RSS Feed
Twitter
3 Comments
"On Oct. 28 & 29, Masten Space Systems, led by former Experimental Rocket Propulsion Society (ERPS) president David Masten, will be the second of three teams attempting to complete the requirements for the Level 2 portion of the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge (NGLLC), funded by NASA, and created and presented by the X PRIZE Foundation."
Congratulations to Masten! They had to really race the clock to meet their requirements. They had a flameout on their first attempt to get the return flight launched. After some quick repairs they were able to make a successful return flight.
After the return flight, the judges had to confer to see how much time was left on the clock. The team had to get the vehicle back onto their trailer in a safe state before they ran out of time. They consensus was that there was only six minutes left.
After some more time spent measuring the distance of the lander from the center of the pad, the clock started again. The Masten team was able to get the vehicle back on the trailer in about two minutes, despite the truck getting stuck briefly, so there shouldn't be any controversy about the time.
It looks like Masten has beaten Armadillo on accuracy. Right now there hasn't been an official accuracy announcement, but it looks like it's in the upper 20s cm, with Armadillo's 85 cm being the figure to beat.
Yesterday's fire was caused by a weeping isopropanol tank. Fortunately any problems they might have had with that today weren't as serious.
The announcer said the three minute flight time for each leg for this Level 2 prize was determined based on the energy that would be needed to get to and from lunar orbit. So this is a meaningful test.
The number of viewers got up to over 1200.
Unreasonable Rocket is going next for Level 1 today, and Level 2 tomorrow.
Congratulations again!
It looks like Masten has beaten Armadillo on accuracy. Right now there hasn't been an official accuracy announcement,cartier jewelry,so there shouldn't be any controversy about the time.
Leave a comment
- 7 Feb: NASA Commercial Crew Forum [New]
- 7 Feb: NASA Talk Features Pioneer Researcher and Inventor [New]
- 8-9 Feb: NASA and Industry Join Forces for Virginia Aerospace Day [New]
- 9 Feb: NASA International Space Station Advisory Committee Meeting
- 9 Feb: NASA Hosts Special Event With Recent Space Station Residents [New]
- 10 Feb: Media Invited to see Space Hardware Bound for Japan [New]
- 10-11 Feb: Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee Meeting
- 11 Feb: NASA Astronaut to Honor Black History at Virginia Air and Space Center [New]
- 13 Feb: ESA Briefing on New Results from Planck Mission
- 14 Feb: Astronauts' Discussion Of Recent International Space Station Mission
- 14 Feb: NASA Tweetup With Space Station Astronaut Ron Garan
- 15 Feb: STA reception with Mike Coats
- 15-16 Feb: 15th Annual FAA Commercial Space Transportation Conference
- 21 Feb: ISU 16th Annual Symposium: Sustainability of Space Activities: International Issues and Potential Solutions
- 22 Feb: 2012 International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium
- 22-23 Feb: 2012 NASA PM Challenge
- 23 Feb: NASA Advisory Council Science Committee Planetary Science Subcommittee Meeting
- 26-28 Feb: Space Exploration Alliance 2012 Blitz
- 27-28 Feb: Second International MEPAG Meeting
- 27-29 Feb: Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference
- 28 Feb - 1 Mar: 4th Annual NASA STEM Educators Workshop Series
- 2 Mar: NASA Glenn Tweetup Celebrating 50th Anniversary Of First American To Orbit Earth
- 6-7 Mar: JPL Hosts High-Tech Small Business Conference
- 22 March: Symposium on Suborbital and Small Satellite Missions
- 22-23 Mar: NASA Adminstrator Bolden Speaks at Aerospace and Defense Conference [New]
- 27-29 Mar: 50th Robert H. Goddard Memorial Symposium
- * Submit Your Event | More Events *
Looks like Masten's setting up for a return flight right now, at 1800z on the 30th. The were able to complete the outbound flight yesterday, but fire damage prevented a return flight. This is Masten's last chance for this year right now.
Unreasonable Rocket is scheduled for this afternoon and on Saturday.
Video is at:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/northrop-grumman-lunar-lander-challenge
I think USTREAM's site is too "busy," but that's where the live video is at.