We just got a flyover from an F-117. I suspect from Holloman AFB, but not sure.

Back to rockets.

Tripoli is going to launch another rocket, supposedly in five minutes, at 10:30. Also, the Rocket Racing League and XCOR are going to unveil the first rocket racer about 10:45.

[Update]

Half an hour late. The first attempt fizzled, but they started the count again about a minute later, and then had a spectacular launch. It went straight up, out of sight, and came back down with a strobe and a streamer. The chutes opened a couple hundred feet off the ground. Looked nominal to me. Also, the crane picked up Armadillo’s vehicles and started hauling them over to the launch pad for their Lunar Landing Prize attempt.

I didn’t report much on the symposium earlier this week, because I was too busy schmoozing to hear a lot of it and the wireless situation was so crummy, but here’s an article at the New Scientist about etiquette in space. Most of it seems like common sense to me.

I didn’t report much on the symposium earlier this week, because I was too busy schmoozing to hear a lot of it and the wireless situation was so crummy, but here’s an article at the New Scientist about etiquette in space. Most of it seems like common sense to me.

I didn’t report much on the symposium earlier this week, because I was too busy schmoozing to hear a lot of it and the wireless situation was so crummy, but here’s an article at the New Scientist about etiquette in space. Most of it seems like common sense to me.

I didn’t follow up yesterday, because I never got a connection in the afternoon, but Armadillo does have FAA permission to fly today, as Alan Boyle reported. Their first attempt at the Level 1 is scheduled shortly.

People here are frantically looking for a rogue wireless network, which is interfering with Armadillo’s ground-to-air communications. John controls it with a joystick operating on 2.4 GHz.

In the meantime, “Rocketman” (aka Don Schlund) is supposed to fly on a peroxide rocket belt in five minutes or so.

[Update a few minutes later]

He flew around on the tarmac for a little less than thirty seconds (that’s how much propellant he has). Max altitude, probable thirty or forty feet. It was quite loud. I’m sure he wears earplugs, but there should probably have been some for the closer spectators as well.

Meanwhile, while we’re waiting for Armadillo to do their Lunar Lander Challenge attempt, go read Jon Goff’s account of getting to Las Cruces and setting up, with Masten Aerospace.

And Anousheh Ansari’s plane just landed and taxied in front of us.

[Update at noon]

Jeff Foust has a picture of the Rocketman. He has other pictures (and a video, laready) as well. Check out the adjacent posts.

jeff Foust is on the case. More updates as I look around, at least for the usual suspects.

I’m in the third row of tables–I didn’t get here early enough to stake out something closer. I’m looking at the backs of Jeff Foust and Alan Boyle. Robin Snelson is up there as well, and Leonard and Barbara David have front-row seats.

I wandered around yesterday as they were setting up. Masten Space has a static display of the vehicle that they wanted to fly in the Lunar Landing Challenge, but couldn’t ready in time. XCOR has a modest tent, with the occasional demo by Doug Jones of their tabletop rocket engine, when the crowd pressure builds up enough to justify it. Sort of like a little geyser.

Rocketplane Kistler has a static display of the XP vehicle. No mockup of the Kistler K-1.

NASA has a walk-through inflable Orion spacecraft, with an inflatable spacesuited astronaut inside, larger than life. Kind of scary for the kids, if you ask me. But no one did. Some people have inflatable girlfriends, others inflatable astronauts. Space geeks, what can you say?

I guess the inflatable spacecraft is the latest attempt to save weight. On the other hand, if they reduce the weight too much, they won’t be able to justify the development of CLV. [VOICE=”Homer Simpson”]In case you didn’t realize it, I was being sarcastic.[/VOICE]

More later.

I’m sitting in the press tent at the X-Prize Cup, with an ethernet connection. Woohow! Bandwidth, sweet sweet bandwidth…

Typing is a little slow–the temperature is still in the upper fifties or low sixties, but phalanges will wiggle faster and with more reliability as the sun continues to warm the field.

The first rocket launch was scheduled for 7:15. It was a replica of one of Goddard’s rockets. It was a little over an hour late. Ascent was beautiful, in a cloudless windless sky. Unfortunately, as Gregg Maryniak pointed out, sometimes chute happens and sometimes it doesn’t. In this case, after apogee, it nosed over and plummeted straight down into the field exactly like a feather wouldn’t. No failure analysis as of this writing, though there was speculation by the Tripoli rep that the altitude-actuated system didn’t work, perhaps with an altimeter failure due to condensation from sitting on the pad overnight.