Posted: Sat, Oct 25, 2008, 8:05 AM ET (1205 GMT)
Entrepreneurial space company Armadillo Aerospace captured the $350,000 first prize in Level 1 of the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge on Friday. The Texas-based team flew its Mod vehicle on two 90-second flights between pads 100 meters apart at Las Cruces International Airport in New Mexico. The first leg of the mission was flown in the morning, but the return leg was interrupted by airspace restrictions at the airport; judges allowed Armadillo to make the return flight in the afternoon. This is the third year that Armadillo competed for the prize, after coming up just short in 2006 and 2007. A second team, TrueZer0, also flew at the competition Friday, but its vehicle crashed shortly after takeoff on its only flight attempt. Armadillo plans to complete for the Level 2 prize, worth $1 million, on Saturday; that requires flying the vehicle for 180 seconds and landing on simulated lunar terrain. The competition's prize money is provided by NASA through its Centennial Challenges program.
