Wed, Aug 06, 2008
10 Teams To Vie For Prize October 24-25
The X Prize Foundation announced
Tuesday that 10 teams will compete in the 2008 Northrop Grumman
Lunar Lander Challenge, which will take place at Holloman Air Force
Base in Alamogordo, NM October 24-25, 2008. The Northrop Grumman
Lunar Lander Challenge is a two-level, two million dollar
competition requiring a vehicle to simulate trips between the
moon's surface and lunar orbit.
"Once again, we have excellent teams prepared to compete in the
Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge," said Dr. Peter H.
Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X Prize Foundation. "We are
excited to see new teams join the competition, and I am confident
that we will give away Prize money this year. We are also delighted
to have Northrop Grumman back as our title sponsor. This is the
third year Northrop Grumman has supported the Lunar Lander
Challenge; they are a valued partner and we would like to thank
them for their continued enthusiasm."
The teams competing are:
- Armadillo Aerospace - Armadillo Aerospace,
based in Mesquite, Texas and led by 3D graphics pioneer and video
game developer John Carmack, is a veteran of the Northrop Grumman
Lunar Lander Challenge. Armadillo was the only team to fly a
vehicle at the 2006 and 2007 competitions. They will be entering
their MOD and QUAD vehicles into the Level One and Two
competitions, respectively. In addition to their participation in
the Lunar Lander Challenge, Armadillo was a contender in the Ansari
X Prize, and has done work for the Rocket Racing League, NASA, and
the U.S. Air Force.
- BonNova - BonNova, led by Allen Newcomb and
based in Tarzana, California, was established for the sole purpose
of winning the Lunar Lander Challenge. They will enter their
vehicles Lauryad 1 and Lauryad 2 in Level One and Two competitions,
respectively. Newcomb has over 20 years experience in avionics and
designing for extreme environments, such as racecars and oil wells.
He designed all of the avionics, flight software, and ground
software for SpaceDev's hybrid rocket engine on Burt Rutan's
SpaceShipOne, the winner of the Ansari X Prize.
- Paragon Labs - Paragon Labs is led by Kevin
Sagis and headquartered in Denver, Colorado. The team is composed
of industry professionals from a number of subsystem disciplines,
molded into a "skunk-works" environment to ensure rapid prototyping
and development. Paragon plans to compete in Level One with their
craft named Volkon. Sagis founded Paragon after working for
Lockheed Martin, supporting various NASA centers.
- Phoenicia - Team Phoenicia is a group of
dedicated individuals, led by William Baird, who have come together
to open up and explore the cosmos. The team is headquartered in
Emeryville, California. By building a scalable and semimodular
design, Team Phoenicia is tackling the competition in a manner that
allows the follow-on development of landers with potential
commercial application. Their Level Two vehicle is called The Wind
at Dawn.
- TrueZer0 - TrueZer0 is a four person team led
by Todd Squires and Scott Zeeb and based in Chicago, Illinois. The
team consists of a mechanical engineer, an electrical/CS engineer,
and a father and son who own and operate a machine shop. The team
has worked together on a number of projects and thinks that between
the four members, they have excellent coverage of almost all
aspects of the competition, from design through production. They
plan to compete in Level One with their vehicle, Ignignokt.
- Unreasonable Rocket - Unreasonable Rocket, led
by Paul Breed, is developing two vehicles to compete in Level One
and Level Two of the 2008 Lunar Lander Challenge. Unreasonable
Rocket is a small father and son team located in Solana Beach,
California, with a long-term goal of showing that significant
rocket and space flight capabilities are achievable by small teams.
Their vehicles are called Burning Splinter 90 and Burning Splinter
180.
- Four other teams have requested to remain
confidential. Their confidentiality period ends 60 days
before the start of the competition at which time the X Prize
Foundation can publicly announce the name of the teams.
The Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge is also funded by
the New Mexico Spaceport Authority and the State of New Mexico. New
Mexico is a key supporter of the X Prize Foundation and the
Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge, and is committed to making
a home for entrepreneurial space in New Mexico. "This marks the
third year that the X Prize Foundation's Northrop Grumman Lunar
Lander Challenge has come to the state of New Mexico, where we
continue to be on the leading edge of the commercial spaceflight
industry. Competitions like the Lunar Lander Challenge will advance
the technology needed as we continue to develop the commercial
spaceflight industry and New Mexico's Spaceport America," said New
Mexico Spaceport Authority Executive Director, Steve Landeene.
The X Prize Foundation manages the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander
Challenge for the NASA Centennial Challenges Program, which
provides the $2 million Prize purse for the competition. While the
competition normally takes place at the X Prize Cup, the Cup has
been postponed until 2009 and the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander
Challenge will be a solo event this year.
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