Astronaut Ambulance?

A military space plane orbiting Earth could be used as an “astronaut ambulance” in cases of emergency medical evacuations.

17:33 15 November 2016

The American government has put an unnamed military space plane in a constant orbit around our planet. Experts have suggested that it could function as an astronaut ambulance in case of a medical emergency aboard the International Space Station. 

 

The United States’ Air Force orbiting X37B space plane provides astronauts a way to taxi them to the space station and back. Currently, they rely on Russian Soyuz rocket for such. Each rocket is launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and relies on a parachute-aided descent to the same location. 

 

"If somebody needs to come home soon from space, coming back on the Soyuz is going to be a pretty challenging ride - at least 4.5 Gs, fairly violent landing, and then you might not be very close to the medical care you need out in Kazakhstan," said former astronaut Stephen Robinson.

 

Space.com said: "Exactly what the X-37B does on orbit for so long is unclear; the space plane's specific activities, and many of its payloads, are classified.” 

 

"Some people have speculated that the X-37B may be a space weapon of some sort, but the Air Force has always denied that idea, maintaining that the vehicle is just testing a variety of technologies for future spacecraft."