Lunar lander challenge is yesterday and today

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Here is a blog post from the xprize organization with pictures

UPDATE: There appears to be no winner in the lunar lander competition for 2007 as Armadillo’s entry failed and burned in its fourth attempt

Wired magazine is blogging the lunar lander xprize cup competition as well


The Armadillo Aerospace had one of two good flights needed for the level 1 prize. The second flight was short of the 90 seconds needed by a few seconds

Level 1 requires a rocket to take off from a designated launch area, rocket up to 150 feet (50 meters) altitude, and then hover for 90 seconds while landing precisely on a landing pad nearly 330 feet (100 meters) away. The flight must then be repeated in reverse – and both flights, along with all of the necessary preparation for each, must take place within a two and a half hour period.

They have another craft that will try for level 2 later Oct 28, 2007

Level 2 requires the rocket to hover for twice as long before landing precisely on a simulated lunar surface, packed with craters and boulders to mimic actual lunar terrain. The hover times are calculated so that the Level 2 mission closely simulates the power needed to perform a real lunar mission.