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."
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