Sunday, October 26, 2008

Lunar Lander prize won by Armadillo Aerospace

Armadillo Aeropsace won NASA's $350,000 prize for the Lunar Lander Level 1 contest. The lander had to go from one pad to another, refuel, and return, with 90 seconds of hover time at an altitude of 50 meters or more both ways - all within a total time limit of 2 1/2 hours. It sounds easy if you add that the pads are only 100m apart, but it's taken years and millions of dollars for a team to win it. Hopefully it's another step along the road to more advanced reusable space vehicles.

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