Will the prize be won by the end of 2014?

Congrats especially as the other day NASA said it had tested 3D printed parts and said they seemed to be as reliable as conventional moulded parts.

It's a pretty interesting design that uses 4 linear slopes in a pyramid shape rather than a cone. The annulus is square rather than round and it has 4 hybrid motors delivering the thrust.

Monroe

Are aerospike engines working out? I always thought they looked interesting, but somehow they never, ah, took off, so to speak. I'd be happy to know they're being used successfully.

They do work, very young tech. I have another design for a Peroxide/Kero aerospike (that's what we need the 5-axis machine for) Steady progress is the best we can do.
Sol-X will be on The Space Show August 9th if you wanna listen in.

Monroe

ArduSat, one of the projects I helped fund on KickStarter, had a successful launch into space earlier today. The You Tube video is now up, the launch is at 47:40

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIa1c28d ... r&t=47m26s

Wishing them success for the rest of their mission.

Rick

Well we finally got Livestream going 24/7 at the shop. You can catch the Livestream at the website http://www.teamprometheus.org or directly at Livestream http://www.livestream.com/teamprometheus Today I'm working on a Stereoscopic Microscope. Melting alum in our foundry coming up casting a gimbaled nozzle and lots of other stuff. I'm out the 14 hours a day and I leave the light on for you nite owls. lol

Monroe

The ArduSat has ben successfuly deployed from ISS. Though much larger than the N-Prize and at a cost significantly higher than the cost restrictions for an N-Prize launch, it does show what can be done by individuals and teams seriously working to open up space.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCR56ioUFSo

I congratulate them on their success that has inspired one of the student teams I'm working with that is building their own CubeSat. I just wish I had more funds to help them out but I'm confident they will succeed.

Rick

If you check the Kickstarter you will find Team Prometheus partnered with Nanosatisfy and helped raise over $100,000.00 for Ardusat.

Thank you very much!

Monroe

They were very successful in partnering with many organizations to help them do things in addition to the almost 700 backers to raise over $100,000.
And yes I saw Team Prometheus partnered to provide two flight tests for ArduSat and I wished you success:

"The first flight, scheduled for late September, will carry the payload prototype and flight computer to an altitude of 100,000 feet (roughly 30 km) using a balloon, and will allow for testing of the payload and sensor performance, onboard data handling protocols, and communication systems.

The second flight, scheduled for October, will launch a new payload prototype and flight computer to an altitude of roughly 40 miles (64 kilometres) atop a balloon-launched rocket. The flight will allow for further testing of the payload performance, in particular the effectiveness of the Arduino thermal control, and the ability of the payload to withstand launch vibrations and G-loads."

How did those tests go?

The point is we stuck our neck out and did the best we could do to help them. I invested $2000 in gear. We got stuck without helium right in the big crunch (during the height of the helium shortage) and right at the last minute. I even had a spare helium bottle but it had leaked and was empty so we had to abort.

Monroe

Hows that 2 phase rocket motor working for SS2S? Perhaps I should turn my attention to punching holes in your work?

As I said before, I wished you success in providing ArduSat those two flights and in other things. As for SS2S, seems you did turn your attention to punching holes in the work but that is fine, we post everything good or bad and welcome critical comments on that project, that is how we advance.

Rick

We are advancing. Good luck to you.

Monroe

Hi, [FutureNow],

Well, I agree that the prize would be much easier to win on a higher budget. But there were a couple of reasons for setting it so low. First, it helps to level the playing field - with an unlimited budget, people with huge resources would win it easily, and there'd be nothing in it for the enthusiasts and nuts (and I mean that in a positive sense!) out there. Second, the low budget means that the only chance of winning is by thinking outside the box (in fact, outside the bag the box came in!) - and perhaps coming up with something radically new. As Ernest Rutherford said: "Gentlemen, we haven't got any money so we will have to think!"

(Also, don't forget that the budget only applies to the final thing that goes up; it doesn't include R&D costs, ground equipment, insurances etc.)

As for the size of the prize, well, one constraint is my personal finances! But another reason for making the prize so very small is that nobody is going to enter in order to make money - whoever wins will probably have spent more than the prize money on R&D. This means that the only serious entrants will be enthusiasts and (again, in the best sense of the words) nuts who have a passion for this kind of thing.

Will it be won? I don't know. I hope so, I really hope so. But, in the meantime, it has lots of smart people scratching their heads, thinking, and having fun - which makes it worthwhile in itself.

Cheers,
Paul

I'll tell my students they'll be going bald like me with all this scratching of the heads if they don't get this thing built soon
We launch another balloon test flight in a few weeks in prep for the Alaska experiments.

Rick

It's not the baldness that worries me, it's the splinters...