Posted by Ray Katz in current, moon
The Armadillo Has Landed!
Armadillo Aerospace, a small developer of re-usable rockets, won “level 1″ of the X-Prize Cup a few days ago—for two successful flights of a vehicle designed to land on the moon.
The Little Pixel That Could
Although Armadillo’s lunar lander (affectionately named “Pixel”) couldn’t really land on the moon, it demonstrated some technology and know-how that could lead to a new, improved lunar landing vehicle. And that’s the whole idea of the X-Cup prize.
Pixel is the brainchild of John Carmack—a former computer game developer—who has moved his attention to rocketry. Pixel flew up about 160 feet, then moved vertically for a distance before neatly settling down on a designated landing site. And then repeated the flight, to win the $350,000 “level 1″ prize.
Armadillo also tried for the more difficult “level 2″ prize (which required, among other things, to land on a treacherous boulder laden landscape) but failed.
Another competitor, TrueZer0 of Chicago, failed in an attempt to win “level 1″. The $10,000 vehicle crashed and was destroyed.
TrueZer0′s vehicle in an earlier “tethered” test.
