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For those that don’t know, coding your favorite games isn’t the only thing that John Carmack does well, turns out he’s not half bad at rocket science. He’s proved this most recently at the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge, which is being held by the X Prize Foundation and sponsored by NASA. The goal of the challenge is to help in the development of a fleet of lunar ferries that could one day carry people and payloads between lunar orbit and the moon’s surface.
The challenge consists of several levels and Carmack’s team, Armadillo Aerospace, has passed the first one. Level one requires that a rocket take off from a launch area, climb to an altitude of 150 feet, hover for 90 seconds and then land safely at a landing pad 150 feet away. They were then required to repeat the flight in reverse within two and a half hours. Their ability to complete this goal before any other team has won them a cool $350,000.
Level two is a bit more difficult. It requires that team double the amount of time hovered, and then land on a simulated lunar surface that’s littered with craters and boulders. Armadillo Aerospace attempted the course, but was unable to complete the task. That means that there’s still $1.65 million up for grabs.
Mr. Carmack, we’re going to have to insist that you keep doing great things, but don’t forget about us!
Image Credit: CNET
Comments are closed on this article
Keith E. Whisman
October 30, 2008 at 9:44am
That pic isn't just cool it's freaking awsome. So I wonder if that is acual size. 1inch in length.
BTW where is the BFG2000 cannon? And why couldn't he make it look more like the Millenium Falcon? It's never going to happen if nobody tries. I always thought that ISS was crap. It should have been in the form of a Star Destroyer or the Enterprise.
sirphunkee
October 29, 2008 at 4:50pm
I always had the same feeling. He's not trying to win a contest here, he's trying to phone home
