Hard start finishes Armadillo

Armadillo Aerospace has apparently suffered another, and this time catastrophic, hard start upon engine ignition, dashing their chances of winning any part of this year’s Lunar Lander Challenge. This time the hard start took place at the beginning of the first leg of the flight (not the return leg, as was the case this morning and yesterday afternoon), and created a spectacular fireball that appeared to significantly damage the vehicle. What caused the hard start this time around isn’t clear–Armadillo thought it has solved the problem that plagued the earlier events–but according to X Prize officials, Carmack has ruled out trying to fly Pixel in a third window this evening. That brings this year’s Lunar Lander Challenge to a close, with no teams winning any money; the full $2 million will be available for Armadillo and other teams next year.

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