Armadillo Aerospace wins $350,000 in Lunar Lander Contest

For anyone who did not know, the third annual Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge was held October 24-25 at Las Cruces international airport. Handled by the X-prize foundation, this two level, $2 million competition lets anyone build a lander and make it hover in the air and land safely at another location using small rockets. It's part of NASA's Continental Challenges program to develop technology for humans to hop to different areas on the moon's surface.

Teams Armadillo and TrueZerO were the two teams competing this year. In level one, teams had to make their lander travel 50 meters in the air, stay airborne for 90 seconds, travel 50 meters away, and repeat the process within a two and a half period, all remotely I might add.
TrueZerO's lander started off promising, but crashed 18 seconds later. Team Armadillo, with over 3 years of experience, successfully had there lander suspended for 97 seconds, winning the level one prize worth $350,000.

Level two increases the difficulty by requiring the lander to hover twice as long and land on craters, simulating a real lunar landing. TrueZerO was only ready for level one and Armadillo's attempt ended in engine failure.

This still marks a great achievement in the private industry. Armadillos success might inspire other people to get involved also, with Peter Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X-prize foundation, saying " There's still $1.65 million left on the table."

The FAA Approves Rocket Races!

Hey guys, have you watched Sci-fi movies like Star Wars and wondered, "Wouldn't it be cool to see vehicles like that race each other?" If you did, you might what to grab your binoculars because this may become a reality as early as next year!

On Tuesday,the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved rocket-powered aircraft to fly in 20 venues across the United States. They will compete what is called the Rocket Racing League (RRL), which people describe as NASCAR-type race in the air. This is the first time the FAA has allowed such aircraft for exhibition flights.

The RRL formed in 2005 and currently has six teams, each with rocket-powered racers fueled with liquid oxygen and kerosene. The league is also going to use the latest technology, as the video on the RRL's website describes. They have already had great success with their rockets, with a public demonstration flight that took place in September.

This means that we are one step closer to cheering for our favorite team roar pass the finish line at sub-sonic speeds, and I definitely can't wait.

Bungie announces Halo 3 Recon at Tokyo Game Show

At around midnight Eastern time on Wednesday, Bungie revealed a new expansion to the halo series, Halo 3 Recon at the Tokyo game show, an annual event held in Japan. Bungie, the developer of the game, previously released a teaser for this two weeks ago, in which dedicated fans speculated what the game will be about.

From the trailer, fans will notice that you will not play as Master Chief, the protagonist of the other Halo games, but instead an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper (ODST). The new game will not continue Halo 3's storyline either, but between Halo 2 and Halo 3, where the prophet entered slipspace over New Mombasa, the city in the trailer (this may be an overload of information, but it would be good to play the games and read the books to get the background information).

This game will set to release in fall 2009, so I'll keep you updated.

SpaceX Owner, Elon Musk, says private sector will play a big role in Space

About a week after his company made their historic launch, Elon Musk said today that private companies will be a major player in space. The Entrepreneur has invested $100 million and six years into SpaceX and is not a bit worried about the risks. They plan to help NASA deliver cargo to the International Space Station by 2010.

This will be a significant change to how private companies work with NASA. Usually they are under contract to build parts for the space agency, with NASA keeping the hardware at the end.
NASA administrator Michael Griffin is very happy for Musk though, saying that the private sector needs to get involved in space. NASA, however, does not plan to fund SpaceX, since they have to focus on creating their own spacecraft.

No matter the outcome, Elon Musk will join the rank of Richard Branson, owner of the Virgin Galactic space tourist project, and Robert Bigelow, who wants to create a Private space hotel, as pioneering entrepreneurs in space.