Yeah, I know, it’s a mixed metaphor. Carmack and crew worked overnight to repair Pixel by cannibalizing Texel. Unfortunately, they also found a cracked combustion chamber on the engine that came down hard, and have also replaced it with a higher-life version, so John says that there’s a slightly higher chance of an engine failure today.

If they succeed with the Level 1, they’ll put the missing bits back into Texel and try for Level 2. But even if not, they may fly Texel anyway, just to beat the old DC-X flight duration record of 142 seconds.

And as I type this, there’s about to be a dual Tripoli launch. Two minutes to launch.

…

And both flights were successful, about a minute apart. There were small sonic booms in both cases.

By the way, any more trollish off-topic comments like those yesterday will be deleted with extreme prejudice. I’ll leave the ones from yesterday up, since others have commented on them, and they’re a continuing testament to the putrid imbecility and vandalistic mentality of too many leftists.

OK, one more post (really, I can quit any time I want).

I just talked to John Carmack. They’ll have to cannibalize, but they can swap parts quickly, so they are planning to make another attempt to win Level 1 tomorrow with Pixel, using Texel parts. If they succeed, and have sufficient time left, they may move the parts back to Texel and go for Level 2. But as I said, even a recovery to win Level 1 is a great story.

He was pretty happy with the vehicle performance (other than the hard landing, which they’ll fix by changing some of the parameters in the software), other than a small roll oscillation (~1 degree) that causes some ullage issues (I assume by “roll” he means the vertical axis). He’ll try tweaking the software, but the only way to really fix it, which will occur in the next vehicle, is getting rid of the solenoids controlling valves, which are causing unacceptable lag, and going back to differential throttling. At least, that’s what I think he told me.

Anyway, I’m really done now. Packing up computer, and heading into town. See you tomorrow.

OK, one more post (really, I can quit any time I want).

I just talked to John Carmack. They’ll have to cannibalize, but they can swap parts quickly, so they are planning to make another attempt to win Level 1 tomorrow with Pixel, using Texel parts. If they succeed, and have sufficient time left, they may move the parts back to Texel and go for Level 2. But as I said, even a recovery to win Level 1 is a great story.

He was pretty happy with the vehicle performance (other than the hard landing, which they’ll fix by changing some of the parameters in the software), other than a small roll oscillation (~1 degree) that causes some ullage issues (I assume by “roll” he means the vertical axis). He’ll try tweaking the software, but the only way to really fix it, which will occur in the next vehicle, is getting rid of the solenoids controlling valves, which are causing unacceptable lag, and going back to differential throttling. At least, that’s what I think he told me.

Anyway, I’m really done now. Packing up computer, and heading into town. See you tomorrow.

OK, one more post (really, I can quit any time I want).

I just talked to John Carmack. They’ll have to cannibalize, but they can swap parts quickly, so they are planning to make another attempt to win Level 1 tomorrow with Pixel, using Texel parts. If they succeed, and have sufficient time left, they may move the parts back to Texel and go for Level 2. But as I said, even a recovery to win Level 1 is a great story.

He was pretty happy with the vehicle performance (other than the hard landing, which they’ll fix by changing some of the parameters in the software), other than a small roll oscillation (~1 degree) that causes some ullage issues (I assume by “roll” he means the vertical axis). He’ll try tweaking the software, but the only way to really fix it, which will occur in the next vehicle, is getting rid of the solenoids controlling valves, which are causing unacceptable lag, and going back to differential throttling. At least, that’s what I think he told me.

Anyway, I’m really done now. Packing up computer, and heading into town. See you tomorrow.

That’s what Keith Cowing says that Bill Nye is.

I disagree. He’s a lot confused. But what do you expect when you get a “science guy” commenting on general policy?

That’s what Keith Cowing says that Bill Nye is.

I disagree. He’s a lot confused. But what do you expect when you get a “science guy” commenting on general policy?

That’s what Keith Cowing says that Bill Nye is.

I disagree. He’s a lot confused. But what do you expect when you get a “science guy” commenting on general policy?

They’re chasing people out. I hate to leave–it’s the best Internet I’ve had all week. Mainlining, man, it’s the good stuff… But I can quit any time I want.

Off to the hotel for adult beverages and an AIAA reception.

[Update before packing up]

Clark Lindsey has some pictures of the Armadillo flight.

If they manage to work all night, recover, and win at least one prize tomorrow, that will be the story of the show. Even more if they win both levels.

There are reportedly twenty-five thousand people here today which, if true, doubles last year’s reported attendance. It doesn’t seem that crowded to me, but I think that it’s because there’s lots of room. Many busloads of children were here (presumably from local schools on field trips, and X-Prize reportedly bused in 5000), and Margaret noted that it gave the atmosphere a sort of Disneyworld quality.

I was just walking around, looking at the kids, and trying to cast my mind back decades. I’ve been doing this too long, and am pretty jaded, though I think that this is the most exciting thing going on in space right now, far eclipsing NASA’s plans. But I know that if there had been something like this as a kid, I’d have been wandering in wonder, looking at the displays, playing in the simulators, watching the flyovers and rocket launches. And dreaming.

One sad thing about it is that the location doesn’t lend itself to bringing in large numbers of people–it’s simply not near enough to any major population centers. Perhaps the X-Prize cup people should consider doing more than one a year, in different locations that are more accessible to crowds, or combining rocketry with conventional air shows, like the Edwards Open House. It could provide more revenue for the struggling rocket makers, and spread the wealth of inspiration to much more of the nation’s youth.

Alan Boyle,, of MSNBC, has posted his first story of the day, giving a good flavor of events.