Oct. 27, 2008

Sonja Alexander 
Headquarters, Washington 
202-358-1761 
sonja.r.alexander@nasa.gov 

Becky Ramsey 
X PRIZE Foundation, Washington 
202-595-4329 
prcontact@xprize.org 

RELEASE: 08-271

NASA $350,000 PRIZE GOES TO ARMADILLO AEROSPACE IN LUNAR CHALLENGE

WASHINGTON -- Armadillo Aerospace of Rockwall, Texas, earned $350,000 
in NASA prize money during the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander 
Challenge in Las Cruces, N.M. 

The challenge is a two-level, $2 million competition designed to 
accelerate commercial space technology and is sponsored by NASA's 
Centennial Challenges program. After Armadillo's $350,000 first place 
win for level one this year, $1.65 million remains as available prize 
money for future competitions. 

Armadillo's winning vehicle successfully demonstrated some of the 
technologies needed for a lunar lander capable of ferrying payloads 
or humans back and forth between lunar orbit and the lunar surface. 
During the first day of competition at Las Cruces International 
Airport on Oct. 24, the vehicle rose to a height of 50 meters, 
translated to a landing pad 100 meters away while staying aloft for 
at least 90 seconds, landed safely and later repeated the flight. 

Armadillo attempted to claim the $1 million first place prize for 
Level 2 on Oct. 25 with a larger vehicle designed to stay aloft for 
twice as long and land on simulated lunar terrain with craters and 
rocks, but they were not successful. 

"We're going to keep working towards Level Two, which we can hopefully 
compete for again soon." said John Carmack, the Armadillo team 
leader. 

"By completing multiple flights in the matter of a few hours, 
Armadillo demonstrated a remarkable level of rocket engine 
reusability, a feature that will be essential to more efficient 
operations on the moon and beyond. The TrueZer0 team, a newcomer to 
rocket development, deserves a lot of credit for flying their vehicle 
to 50 meters on its first untethered flight. Armadillo and TrueZer0 
represent the spirit of innovation that NASA hopes to encourage with 
the Centennial Challenges program," said Andy Petro, manager of 
NASA's Centennial Challenges Program at NASA Headquarters in 
Washington. 

The $350,000 prize won by Armadillo represents the largest prize yet 
awarded under NASA's Centennial Challenge program. The Armadillo team 
will be recognized for their achievement at a ceremony in Washington 
next month. 

Centennial Challenges is NASA's prize program to promote technical 
innovation through competitions open to all Americans. The Lunar 
Lander Challenge is one of seven current competitions designed to tap 
the nation's ingenuity in support of NASA's goals. The program is 
managed by NASA's Innovative Partnerships Program Office. 

The Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge is supported by the New 
Mexico Spaceport Authority, the State of New Mexico, and Northrop 
Grumman. The X PRIZE Foundation manages the Northrop Grumman Lunar 
Lander Challenge for the NASA Centennial Challenges Program, which 
provides the $2 million prize purse for the competition. 

For more information about NASA's Innovative Partnership Program and 
Centennial Challenges, visit: 



http://www.ipp.nasa.gov 


For more information about the X PRIZE Foundation, visit 



http://www.xprize.org 

	
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