Have to leave for the airport. I’ll check back in tomorrow, barring travel mishaps. Go over and read Clark and Jeff for more updates.

Jeff Foust says that Armadillo will try again about 12:45 MT. Unfortunately, I’ve got a 2:20 flight out of El Paso, so I’ll be leaving here about 12:30. While I wish good luck to the Armadillo team, I have to confess some hope that the prize remains unwon, so there will be some real competition next year. But I guess I’ll find out when I get home tonight.

But just as I type this, they’re getting ready to start the clock again, and send the vehicle back out to the test site. So maybe, if things go ahead of schedule, I’ll get to see it after all.

…

OK, the clock just started.

Jeff Foust says that Armadillo will try again about 12:45 MT. Unfortunately, I’ve got a 2:20 flight out of El Paso, so I’ll be leaving here about 12:30. While I wish good luck to the Armadillo team, I have to confess some hope that the prize remains unwon, so there will be some real competition next year. But I guess I’ll find out when I get home tonight.

But just as I type this, they’re getting ready to start the clock again, and send the vehicle back out to the test site. So maybe, if things go ahead of schedule, I’ll get to see it after all.

…

OK, the clock just started.

Jeff Foust says that Armadillo will try again about 12:45 MT. Unfortunately, I’ve got a 2:20 flight out of El Paso, so I’ll be leaving here about 12:30. While I wish good luck to the Armadillo team, I have to confess some hope that the prize remains unwon, so there will be some real competition next year. But I guess I’ll find out when I get home tonight.

But just as I type this, they’re getting ready to start the clock again, and send the vehicle back out to the test site. So maybe, if things go ahead of schedule, I’ll get to see it after all.

…

OK, the clock just started.

Yesterday, the University of Michigan team climbed the ribbon using a beamed-power system (lights below shining on solar panels). Today another team (a high school from Silicon Valley) just did it using solar power, with the arrays tracking the rising sun here mid morning. No word on their time yet.

Tim Pickens uses an asphalt-nitrous combination for both his rocket bike, and his rocket truck. Earlier, he had an igniter failure on the rocket bike. Just a few minutes ago, he was demonstrating the rocket truck (it’s in the bed of his Chevy, pointing–no surprise–backwards). He has it chocked for a static engine firing–for some strange reason, he can’t get insurance to actually propel it. This time, the igniter ignited, but there didn’t seem to be any oxidizer flow. It may be a failure of a temperature sensor that allows the valve to open.

So he’s 0 for 2 today.

Pixel will launch in two minutes.

…

First leg looked successful, but it did yesterday as well. Some talk that they may have missed the pad on landing. Now it’s looking like the ship tilted on landing.

They’ll definitely have to start over. The question is whether or not they damaged it, which will determine whether or not they have another chance today. If not, the prizes remain unwon for this year, giving hope to Masten and other potential contenders.

[Update a few minutes later]

I just talked to Ken Davidian, of Centennial Challenges. He says that as far as he knows, they could still go with Texel for Level 1, and perhaps for Level 2 as well, if they can get the parts back in her (him?). But if they don’t win a prize today, they have to wait until next year. If so, it will give other teams time to catch up, and make for a more exciting event in 2007.

Just hearing that Tim Pickens will take another rocket bike ride in a couple minutes.

…

A failed ignitor. They may try again later.

Word now is that Pixel landed off the pad, on its side, but there are no fuel leaks. Still unclear whether or not they’ll attempt it again today.

[Update about 10:25]

The Armadillo team just came by the press tent with the wounded Pixel on their way to the staging area from which they’re required to start any next attempt. Still unclear if they’re going to fly it again, or swap the parts back into Texel. I’ll go over and see if John has time to talk.

[A couple minutes later]

“We’re going to get a sandwich, dust it off, make sure the bolts are tight, and then try it again.”

Literally. Fifteen minutes until LOX pressurization on Pixel.

Congratulations to Mark Whittington, who has managed to get a column about COTS and Bigelow into today’s WaPo.

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.