Winding down for the afternoon

The X Prize Cup is winding down for the day, with no major other events planned for the afternoon. Carmack confirmed in a press gaggle a little while ago that they plan to fix Pixel tonight and fly it tomorrow for the Level 1 Lunar Lander Challenge; if they have to use Texel instead they […]

Carmack explains the flight

John Carmack is on live explaining what happened with the flight. They initially had problems this morning with icing on their LOX lines, apparently because they were not able to store the vehicles overnight in a heated hangar. He says the flight went well up until landing, but hasn’t explained what exactly went wrong during […]

First Armadillo flight apparently not a success

Armadillo completed the first of its two flights for Level One of the Lunar Lander Challenge at about 1:25 MDT. It appears to have been a success, but there are now reports that there was a fire of some kind after landing–whether on the vehicle or pad is unclear–and it seems unlikely they will make […]

Miscellaneous updates

A few updates here at the X Prize Cup just after 1 pm MDT Friday:

Apparently the window for Armadillo’s launch has been extended, although exactly when they will attempt their flight remains unknown; At least one team (from the Univ. of Michigan) has climbed the tether in the Space Elevator Games; The only major […]

Rocket man

Earlier in the morning they did a demo of the “Rocket Belt”: a rocket backpack that allows a man to fly–for 30 seconds. They the demo right in front of the media center:

Fairly entertaining, especially for the kids.

Another Tripoli launch

Shortly before Armadillo carted out their vehicle for their Lunar Lander Challenge attempt, Tripoli carried out another high-powered amateur launch:

This was one more powerful than the one earlier this morning, and its parachutes worked as well.

Armadillo’s clock has started

The 2.5-hour window for Armadillo Aerospace’s Lunar Lander Challenge Level 1 attempt started about 10 minutes ago when they crossed a white line on the tarmac at the airport. A few minutes later their vehicle, Pixel, was loaded onto a truck and headed for the competition site in the airport midfield.

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Armadillo launch delay

Armadillo’s Lunar Lander Challenge launch has been delayed by technical issues: apparently there is some wireless interference disrupting their link to their vehicle. They’re planning to go later this morning; they have a 2.5-hour launch window that opens at 11 am MDT. One team member said they believe they have a 70% chance of winning […]

Tripoli launch video

Here’s a brief video of the Tripoli launch earlier this morning:

First launch

We had our first flight event just after 8:15 am MDT, with the launch of a Goddard replica rocket by Tripoli. The launch looked great:

However, the rocket’s parachute failed to deploy and it crashed in a cloud of smoke.

Armadillo Aerospace is scheduled to fly in about an hour for level one of the […]