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Armadillo Flies... Briefly

Posted by michael on from the lawn-dart dept.

david.given writes "Armadillo Aerospace did their first untethered test flight last week, at the Oklahoma Spaceport, using their new tube-shaped rocket. Predicted height was fifteen hundred feet; unfortunately a computer failure caused the vehicle to tip over and dive into the ground from a hundred feet up, causing severe damage (i.e., it requires a rebuild, not a repair). See the report and the slightly depressing video footage."

22 of 305 comments (clear)

  1. Really has to be asked by dirvish · · Score: 5, Funny

    unfortunately a computer failure caused the vehicle to tip over

    What operating system were they running?

    --
    FoundNews.com - get paid to blog.,
    1. Re:Really has to be asked by daeley · · Score: 5, Funny

      Rocket Scientist: 'Operating System? Crap! I *knew* we forgot something!'

      --
      I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
    2. Re:Really has to be asked by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative
      What apparently happened is that the power connectors use screw terminals, and one managed to work its way off in the drive from Texas and subsequent shaking in the pre-launch tests. They got about 2 seconds of telemetry data after the launch and then it cut out.

      Going from memory, read it yesterday.

    3. Re:Really has to be asked by iabervon · · Score: 5, Funny

      "Hello, Tech Support? My rocket crashed." "Is the computer plugged in?"

    4. Re:Really has to be asked by Ctrl-Z · · Score: 5, Informative


      Actually, the batteries they used had slip-on connectors.

      From the story:
      "The batteries have slip-on connectors, which have bothered me for quite a while, but screw terminal batteries are not available until much larger sizes. We are going to drill our own screw terminals in the lugs of future batteries, and possibly solder them as well."

      --
      www.timcoleman.com is a total waste of your time. Never go there.
    5. Re:Really has to be asked by VC · · Score: 5, Informative

      Nope, Read the article. The power connector fell off. No bug in the software, not the os, just the total lack of electricity.

      --
      Official GOD FAQ.
    6. Re:Really has to be asked by vsprintf · · Score: 5, Funny

      Slip-on battery connectors are a bad idea.

      Slip-on connectors anywhere in an area subjected to lots of vibration or g-forces is a bad idea.

      I remember my second attempt at bracket racing, where a quarter of the way down the dragstrip, there was a huge bang from the engine, and it just died. I coasted to the exit road while listening to the announcer on the PA say, "Ha, looks like the *snicker* Ford's got real problems."

      We towed the Mustang home, and the next day I had unbolted the hood and was getting ready to pull the manifold and heads when an onlooking buddy says, "Did you yank this ignition wire?"

      A slip-on connector to the coil had shaken off. Dumbest design I've ever seen, and the end result was pretty embarassing in more than one way.

    7. Re:Really has to be asked by ChaoticLimbs · · Score: 5, Funny

      What you can do is melt an alloy of tin, lead and bismuth on the battery contacts after wrapping the wires around the terminals. This method is used by NASA. very hush-hush stuff. This special alloy of metals actually flows into the connection when in molten state, and not only does it improve the connection's electrical resistance, but it also improves the mechanical strength significantly once it hardens. Try that. PS- it lifted off and I bet that if the computer had been capable of actually controlling it, it would have flown (up) more.

  2. Ironic... by Spytap · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is what happens when you name your vehicle after one of the dumbest animals alive...it acts like one.

    1. Re:Ironic... by vsprintf · · Score: 5, Informative

      Yeah, why would any one name a rocket after an animal that doesn't even fly.

      The armadillo may not fly, but it can "launch" very well. Its defense mechanism is to jump straight up when frightened, and adults can jump three to four feet into the air. This, and its habit of wandering down roads at night, has made it a major cause of highway fatalities in Texas IIRC. It's not like having a dragonfly hit the windshield at 70 mph - more like an armor-plated bowling ball.

  3. Meanwhile, in Redmond by Epsillon · · Score: 5, Funny

    Microsoft issues a statement calling the launch a "complete success" and promises 150 feet by "service pack 2"

    --
    Resistance is futile. Reactance buggers it up.
  4. Re:Wonderfull by unicron · · Score: 5, Funny

    The sooner they build the rocket, the sooner they find an advanced civilization that can gives us the computer needed to run Doom3 above 800x600. Just have patience.

    --
    Finally, math books without any of that base 6 crap in them.
  5. More information... by Reality+Master+101 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Carmack makes quite a few posts to this Amateur Rocketry Board. Makes pretty interesting reading about the technical aspects of his rocket launches.

    --
    Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
  6. It was a loose wire by LucVdB · · Score: 5, Informative

    The computer died because one of the battery wires wiggled itself loose. I wouldn't really call that a 'computer malfunction'.

    The computer runs Linux, by the way.

    --
    Great games
  7. heres a copy by gimpboy · · Score: 5, Informative

    link

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    -- john
  8. NEW tube shaped rocket? by spun · · Score: 5, Funny

    As opposed to the outdated cubical rockets?

    --
    - None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
  9. Mirror of the movies by OverlordQ · · Score: 5, Informative

    First Movie
    and
    Second Movie mirrored for your enjoyment.

    --
    Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
    1. Re:Mirror of the movies by WankersRevenge · · Score: 5, Funny

      That launch reminds of my first time I tried to score with a woman. Ahh. Memories.

  10. Keep trying... by Goonie · · Score: 5, Interesting
    On the off chance the Armadillo guys read this post, I'd just like to congratulate them for making it as far as they have, and hope that they aren't too discouraged by the less-than-perfect result of this test. If you expect things to work perfectly every time, you'll never try anything new.

    Good luck, and count me in for a ticket when the bugs are out of the system!

    --

    Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo
    --Andy Finkel (J. Klass?)
  11. Of course it failed! by tswinzig · · Score: 5, Funny

    "NOVEMBER SKY" doesn't translate into anything nearly as cool as "ROCKET BOYS."

    I mean, according to anagram science, Carmack should have been asking his girl to "SERVE MY KNOB."

    --

    "And like that ... he's gone."
  12. Re:Long way to go by silentbozo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Huh? Their "fuel" is hydrogen peroxide, which converts to steam when it hits the catalyzing screens just prior to the engine nozzles. The screens should be plenty hot when they hit higher altitudes, and a pressure sphere will increase in performance (up to a point) as the the outer atmospheric pressure decreases. I really don't see how a turbopump comes into the equation, as you don't have separate fuel/oxidizers to combine and ignite.

  13. We built a checklist by YrWrstNtmr · · Score: 5, Insightful

    We built a checklist for our flight operations, which was a very good idea. Going through it before setting off caught several things we almost forgot.

    Except the one thing that you did forget.
    Haing a checklist is one thing. Having a complete checklist is evidently something else.