Successful Test Flight and Landing for Xombie Rocket Lander and GENIE

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday February 18, 2012 @10:19PM from the rises-from-the-dead-and-then-lands-gently-on-the-living dept.

An anonymous reader sends word that Masten Space Systems' Xombie rocket has successfully demonstrated vertical takeoff and landing for NASA's Flight Opportunities Program. It was guided autonomously by the GENIE system from Draper Laboratory. "The rocket rose 164 feet, moved laterally 164 feet, and then landed on another pad after a 67-second flight. The flight represents the first step in developing a test bed capability that will allow for landing demonstrations that start at much higher altitudes-several miles above the ground." This navigation technology is laying the groundwork for future exploration of planets, moons, and asteroids.

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Re:164 feet? by arielCo · 2012-02-19 00:17 · Score: 5, Informative

Just 1.28 cm more and it would have been 50 meters exactly. What a coincidence. You might almost think they had gone metric.
They have. You're seeing the rounded number. https://www.google.com/search?q=50+meter+in+feet = 164.041995 feet (164 feet ½ inches)

I see they'll be missing planets again in the future.
Yeah, imperial bad metric good. But the NASA of yore somehow hit the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, etc etc using teh evul miles and pounds-force. Maybe it has to do with _mixing_ units between suppliers and integrator without proper communication?

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