Armadillo Aerospace’s third bid to win the Level 1 Lunar Lander Challenge failed this morning, again apparently because of continued engine problems. The vehicle appeared to fly well on the first leg of the flight, although the engine may have suffered a hard start on liftoff. On the return flight, the vehicle apparently lifted off briefly (although that was hard to tell from observers on the flightline) and suffered another hard start; Armadillo did a powered abort and landed back on the pad seconds after liftoff. Shortly thereafter they scrubbed for the morning.
It appears that Armadillo will try again to win the Level 1 this afternoon, as they try to diagnose the problems with the engine that have plagued them this weekend. Pixel is available for Level 2, presumably, but right now it appears Armadillo will focus on winning Level 1.
Jeff; are ya gonna post this picture to flickr? I’d like to get a copy of it, for a powerpoint that i do, regarding the alt.space effort. thanks. mjl