Masten Space Systems Wins $150k Lunar Lander Challenge Prize! October 8, 2009
Posted by Nick Azer in : Google Lunar X Prize, Lunar Lander Challenge 2009, Masten Space Systems , add a commentThe 2009 Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge has another winning team—Masten Space Systems!
The first year the competition has had two winners (and only the second year it’s had a winner at all), Mastens’ “Xombie” craft captured a Level One $150,000 purse yesterday (with their “Xoie” craft going for a Level 2 purse on October 28th-29th).
One of the best things about this is the slew of videos Masten produced of the effort—awesome coverage; gets me excited for the kind of coverage we could see from the Google Lunar X PRIZE teams :) Check out the video below, and a bunch of fun on-craft angles at their Youtube:
New 2009 Lunar Lander Challenge Team Announced—BonNovA! October 5, 2009
Posted by Nick Azer in : BonNovA, Google Lunar X Prize, lander, Lunar Lander Challenge 2009, Masten Space Systems , add a commentThe 2009 Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge has announced an additional team entering competition—BonNovA!
A veteran of previous years, BonNovA’s Lauryad I+II landers will be attempting prizes on October 26th and 27th in Cantil, CA.
Check out a (very brief) video below of their first test lift-off earlier this year:
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Coming up this week on Wednesday and Thursday is Masten Space Systems‘ next attempts at the prize—stay tuned! :)
Armadillo Aerospace Wins Lunar Lander Challenge Prize (Level 2)! September 13, 2009
Posted by Nick Azer in : Armadillo Aerospace, Google Lunar X Prize, lander, Lunar Lander Challenge 2008, Lunar Lander Challenge 2009 , 2comments
They’ve done it again: after being the first team to win a prize in the annual Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge last year, Armadillo Aerospace had another successful attempt in their 2009 effort yesterday:
They claimed a Level 2 prize. Next week, Masten Space Systems will be doing their own Level One prize attempt, with several attempts at the Level 2 coming in October, followed by Unreasonable Rocket‘s shot at both prizes at the end of the month.
For a lot more great videos on yesterday, check out the official X PRIZE Launch Pad post on it :)
First 2009 Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge Attempts Announced! August 28, 2009
Posted by Nick Azer in : Google Lunar X Prize, lander, Lunar Lander Challenge 2009, Youtube , add a comment
Over at the X PRIZE Foundation‘s official blog The Launch Pad, they announced the official attempt dates for this year’s Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge!
This year’s format is different than last year‘s—instead of the teams all gathering at one location and one time and competing there, teams can make an attempt on their home turf and on their schedule (before a certain date).
There are three teams announced in this first group:
- Armadillo Aerospace, winners last year (and the first to win a prize at all) will compete on September 12th and 13th in Caddo Mills, TX;
- Masten Space Systems will be aiming at different prizes on three different occassions: September 15-16, October 7-8, and October 28-29 from Mojave, CA; and
- Unreasonable Rocket joins the fray Oct. 30-31st, hoping for treats and not tricks from Cantil, CA.
Keep an eye here for coverage, and check out this great X PRIZE recap video from last year: