Armadillo Aerospace Claims Level 2 Lunar Lander Prize

Posted by kdawson on Sunday September 13, 2009 @12:12AM from the putting-it-down-easy dept.

Dagondanum writes "Armadillo Aerospace has officially won the 2009 Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge Level 2, on a rainy day at Caddo Mills, Texas. Reports came in from various locations during the day and spectators posted videos and images using social networking tools such as Twitter. The Level 2 prize requires the rocket to fly for 180 seconds before landing precisely on a simulated lunar surface constructed with craters and boulders. The minimum flight times are calculated so that the Level 2 mission closely simulates the power needed to perform a real descent from lunar orbit down to the surface of the Moon. First place is a prize of $1 million while second is $500,000."

2 of 134 comments (clear)

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

Re:Woohooo by bcmm · 2009-09-13 00:27 · Score: 1, Redundant

It does indeed move incredibly smoothly. How does it steady itself? It most certainly looks top-heavy. Are there separate thrusters keeping it from tipping, or does its main engine have thrust-vectoring?

--
# cat /dev/mem | strings | grep -i llama
Damn, my RAM is full of llamas.
Re:Woohooo by moon3 · 2009-09-13 02:45 · Score: -1, Redundant

The crew that rushed into the scene with the fire extinguisher (very end of the footage) in clear attempt to safe the thing will also be present on the Moon ?