The big news of today, I think (since somehow my invitation to the Executive Summit for the X-Prize Cup got lost in the mail. Or something) is that John Carmack almost has a license to fly tomorrow for his attempt at the Lunar Landing Challenge? The catch?

He must answer these questions three. You know, like what is your favorite color?

Well, not really. Actually, the questions three are three successful flights today, when the crowds aren't present. I'm informed that if he can do that, then he'll have permission to fly with folks present. At least that's what I was told late last night. But Alan Boyle says that they only have to perform a single hover test.

Anyway, I'm heading up to the airport shortly to see how it goes. Or went, if I don't get there in time.

By the way, I see that Robin Snelson has been doing a good job of keeping up on what's going on here. Just keep scrolling.

Is it just me or is Carmack having a lot of trouble? I haven't checked out his site since before SS1 flew, but last I was there, he was still unable to get two-meter-long test articles to hover reliably without flipping over and attempting to dig to China.

Rick, you really should check out the Armadillo site; there has been a lot of work going on there over the last two years. Also, if you search for Armadillo Aerospace on YouTube, you'll see a number of videos of their tests posted.

I haven't checked out his site since before SS1 flew

If you were following the Ares design team, checking on it once a year would probably be sufficient to get an idea of their progress. For a group like Armadillo you've probably missed a few generations of equipment design and a few dozen iterations of tests (both successful and otherwise)

Stephen,

fair enough. However, the fact that he has to run a gauntlet to get permission to fly in front of people _could_ suggest there is still a stability concern.

Armadillo got the license. Read Alan.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15339434/