The event, sponsored by online wireless retailer Wirefly.com, begins with a symposium at New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, and followed by an Air and Space Show at Holloman Air Force Base, Alamogordo.

The home website of the 2007 Wirefly X PRIZE Cup is: http://space.xprize.org/x-prize-cup/. According to the site, the X PRIZE Cup is: “A celebration of forward-looking technology, space exploration and education. A true "rocket festival" held in beautiful New Mexico, the Wirefly X Prize Cup brings together science, technology, space exploration and interactive education: the general public experiences how dreams about new frontiers come true through real-time competition for new aerospace technologies.”

The main event at the X PRIZE Cup is the Northrop Grumman “Lunar Lander Challenge”, sponsored by NASA. The $1.35 million prize could be awarded to Armadillo Aerospace, the only entry in the contest. The contest is based on NASA’s desire to learn as much as it can on how to automatically land a vehicle on the Moon’s surface while avoiding hazards such as craters and boulders.

To win $350,000 in prize money (Level 1), the entry vehicle must ascend 164 feet (50 meters) into the air, move 328 feet (100 meters) horizontally, and land on a concrete pad, all over a time period of at least 90 seconds. It must then return to its starting point and, again, stay in the air for at least 90 seconds. To qualify for an additional $1 million (Level 2), the craft must stay in the air for 180 seconds for each segment of the course, and land on a surface that simulates the lunar surface.

The X PRIZE Cup is part of NASA’s Centennial Challenges program. NASA wants to develop spacecraft that can scan the ground, recognize and avoid problem areas, and land safely, all without the aid of human guidance.

Armadillo Aerospace, founded in 2000, is based in Mesquite, Texas. Its founder is “Doom” and “Quake” video games creator John Carmack. The company plans to use a craft named Pixel for the $1 million prize and a craft called Module 1 for the $350,000 prize.

The two vehicles are basically the same except Pixel contains twice as many fuel tanks as the two-tank Module 1. Both use liquid oxygen (LOX) and ethanol for its fuel. Texel, the sister craft to Pixel, crashed during testing and was destroyed. Module 1 is a next-generation craft by Armadillo Aerospace that was pressed into service after Texel was unable to compete.

Carmack and his private space company have a near-term goal to complete a manned suborbital spacecraft for space tourism. Its long-term goal is to develop an orbital spacecraft.

Two other X PRIZE Cup competitions are Space Elevator Games, which will be held in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Vertical Rocket Challenge. At this year’s event the Teacher in Space Project is being reintroduced, which aims to send a teacher on a suborbital flight of a private company.

Several X PRIZE videos are on the YouTube website: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K4zosGUMBw.



{moscomment}