Lunar Lander Challenge and it's Draft Rules

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Well I'd say that it's pretty much in keeping with the the original X-Prize in that the rules seem to be relatively few and easily understood with little need for interpretation. They look good on first reading.

BUT hate to be pessimistic - what happens when NASA finalises them? Will they be left alone and function as intended or will the become loaded down with NASA-speak ie. unnecessary bureacractic enhancement???

The only thing they forgot to put in the rules is that the rocket must be called Widget.

Can't think of any other team remotely close to achieving this prize.

James

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It sounds like and "extra credit" assignment. And it only counts if there is a tie.

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Competitors will be aware of the capabilities of each other's vehicle and determined to do better. That's the nature of competition.

Capability in the rules is measured by payload mass and landing accuracy particularly in the event of an initial tie.

It could be quite reasonable to anticipate the same payload in 2 or more vehicles however landing accuracy will be the cruncher and it's actually mean landing accuracy over the 2 landings not just the best one.

I don't think the tie breaker will be required however it does actually make sense when read in conjunction with other sections such as the definitions of time slot and so on.

I think they've really come up with something workable and it'll be interesting to see who ends up competing assuming the competition goes ahead in this format. The requirements are challenging particularly the uneven landing site.

Anyone know of any organisation other than Armadillo doing anything on VTOL? Here's a thought. Has John been whispering in someone's ear 'cause the competition looks suspiciously like it's been tailored for someone?

Hey, I was going to ask that! But since you already did it reminded me of this:
http://www.spacefellowship.com/Forum/about1481-30.html
Do you think they would come?

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Hey campbelp2002 that's fantastic. I hadn't seen it before. What a buzz it would be if they did. I wonder how much they've spent on development. Looks like it'd be a bit more than John and his crew have.

Whonos, I didn't think I said that. I said competitors would try to outdo each other with vehicle capabilities in all aspects however I thought that landing accuracy would be the telling factor.

I didn't think I mentioned only one competitor per year Hopefully there'd be a number of them to make life interesting - bit like the elevator competition.

Masten Space Systems is progressing at a pretty good pace. They certainly haven't been in the game as long as Armadillo Aerospace, but they seem to have an experienced crew and they seem to be well-funded (don't know how, though...). I wouldn't be surprised if they manage to show up with a vehicle capable of competing.

And although we know almost nothing about Blue Origin, we know that they are well funded and have a pretty strong workforce. But it's virtually impossible to say whether they're going to compete in this event, based on the facts that we know.

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I'm not sure the RVT team would be eligible to compete since they are from Japan and are involved with JAXA, but it would be great to see.

According to the article their craft has already done a "boosted hop" to an altitude of over 40m from the information in the link, hovering for 90 seconds might be a problem though. The information is a couple of years old anyone got anything more recent on these guys and what they've been up to?

One interesting point on the rules, it appears the prize money is rolled over every year if it is not won which could double or triple it. This might encourage more teams to compete.

I wonder about that too. Not that they are from Japan but that they (may) have used (Japanese) government money.

Whatever works should win. Money source be hanged.

This prize makes ever so much sense than an orbital LV prize. Landers seem to be well within the reach of several folks who visit this board. The primes supply the big rides, and motivated hobbiests provide landers quite a bit cheaper than what the primes would ask for.

Two thumbs up.