Mastin & XCOR to develop unmanned landers

Mastin's Xombie performs during second leg of last October's Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge.

CSM/Space.com

Two California companies, one a rocket engine builder and the other a mock moon lander champion, have teamed up to develop new private unmanned vehicles that NASA could send to the moon, Mars and asteroids.

The companies are XCOR Aerospace, specializing in rocket engines, and Masten Space Systems — which won a $1 million NASA contest to build and fly robotic vehicles on simulated hops on the moon. The two companies hope to combine their areas of expertise in anticipation of NASA-sponsored unmanned lander projects, according a joint announcement this week.

"It seems like NASA may actually be interested in a commercial approach to landers," Michael Mealling, of Masten Space Systems, told SPACE.com Tuesday.

Read the article HERE.

Video of second flight of Mastin Xoie

Armadillo disputes Mastin advantage, Unreasonable heartbreaker in Northrup Grumman Lunar Lander X-Prize Challenge

Update: Rob Goldsmith at the Space Fellowship has posted YouTube video taken on-board Unreasonable Rocket's Blue Bell, during it's spectacular but failed attempt to reach Level One of the 2009 Northrup Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge, Saturday, HERE.

"Done for the day," after a long day of last minute technical challenges, "Blue Ball" comes down on target five seconds too soon after running out of fuel in flight. Though the feisty vehicle was only slightly damaged, the father and son team of the Breed family's Unreasonable Rocket group is out of options for achieving requirements for Level One of the Northrup Grumman Lunar Lander X-Prize Challenge. The team will go for Level Two with their "Silver Ball" precision lander, Sunday. [X-Prize/Unreasonable Rocket]

John Carmack of Armadillo Aerospace calls foul, raises level of controversy over an apparent unfair advantage to Mastin Space Systems by X-Prize judges

Keith Cowling
NASA Watch

"The rules have given the judges the discretion to do just about anything up to and including awarding prize money for best effort if they felt it necessary, so there may not be any grounds to challenge this, but I do feel that we have been robbed. I was going to argue that if Masten was allowed to take a window on an unscheduled day with no notice, the judges should come back to Texas on Sunday and let us take our unused second window to try for a better accuracy, but our FAA waiver for the LLC vehicle was only valid for the weekend of our scheduled attempt."

Follow the Story, HERE.

2009 Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge

Fire thwarts Mastin in X-Prize round

"Here's the Xoie engine. Sun makes it hard to see but some wires are fried. Also 6in from center #ngllc" - via Twitter & twitpic Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge.

John Antczak
Silicon Valley Mercury News

A rocket flew halfway through a simulated lunar landing mission in the Mojave Desert on Thursday before a fire thwarted the attempt to win a $1 million prize.

Masten Space Systems' Xoie, a robotic rocket, took off from a launch pad at Mojave Air & Space Port and flew to another pad where it set down on its legs among large boulders as flame licked up the side.

The fire damaged wires, a tube and insulation but the rocket could be ready to fly as early as Friday, said David Masten, president and chief executive of Masten Space Systems, based in Mojave, Calif.

However, Thursday's effort had been expected to be Masten's last chance and it was unclear if the judges of the NASA-backed Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge would allow another attempt.

Filed report HERE.

Updates from RLV & Space Transport News
Mastin Space Systems Level II Attempt

Million-dollar rocket showdown

Masten Space Systems' Xoie rocket was designed to go after a million-dollar prize.

Alan Boyle
Cosmic Log

The climactic rocket showdown for a million-dollar prize from NASA is under way in California's Mojave Desert.

Just as folks at Kennedy Space Center in Florida were celebrating the successful launch of NASA's Ares I-X rocket prototype, Masten Space Systems readied its own Xoie prototype at the Mojave Air and Space Port for its first attempt to win the Level 2 competition in the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge.

Today Masten was grounded by glitches, but it has another day to go for the prize.

Read the Post HERE.

Mastin qualifies with Armadillo

Mastin's Xombie

Jason Paur
autopea/Wired

Another team has qualified for a $150,000 prize in NASA’s Norththrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge, having successfully flown its rocket lander in Southern California.

Masten Space Systems joins Armadillo Aerospace in qualifying for Level One of the Lunar Lander Challenge and the $150,000 second-place purse. Its vehicle, called “Xombie,” lifted off from a launch pad at the Mojave Air and Space Port on Wednesday. The 715-pound lunar lander prototype climbed to an altitude of 53 meters, flew horizontally for 50 meters and touched down on another landing pad during a 90-second flight.

Read the Story, HERE.

Next up, Mastin Space System's Xombie

After watching Scorpius from Aerospace take the lead in the second tier of the 2009 Northrup Grumman / X-Prize Lunar Lander Challenge, Mastin Space Systems is preparing to perform for the judges beginning early morning Wednesday. MSNBC's Alan Boyle has the Story, HERE.

Armadillo Scorpius has power to escape Moon

Gareth Morgan
New Scientist/Spaceflight

The million-dollar Lunar Lander Challenge prize will be claimed this year. Already one team's craft has completed an Earth-based test trip which proves it has the oomph to achieve lunar orbit from the moon's surface. Two more teams will attempt to do the same before the end of October.

The Scorpius, built by Armadillo Aerospace of Rockwall, Texas, took off on 13 September from a launch pad at nearby Caddo Mills. Fuelled by a blend of liquid oxygen and alcohol, it rose 50 metres into the air and headed to a mock lunar landing pad 50 metres away. After refuelling and a minor tweak to the controlling software, it flew back.

The trips simulated landing and blasting-off from the moon's surface and into lunar orbit – putting it in line to claim the $1 million prize for fulfilling level 2 of the Northrop Grumman 2009 Lunar Lander Challenge.

Before the end of October, Masten Space Systems (MSS) and Unreasonable Rocket, both based in California, aim to launch competitors. MSS will attempt to complete the level 2 challenge with its XA-0.1E rocket. Unreasonable Rocket is a much smaller team, consisting of father and son Paul T. Breed and Paul A. Breed, whose 1.5-metre-high vehicle is named Blue Ball.

If more than one team is successful, the prize will be settled by assessing the mean landing accuracy of the outward and return flights.

Mastin: "Progress on All Fronts"

Flight 5 of XA-0.1B-750

Masten Space Systems and their recent flight tests: Flight of the Zombie - OnSpace/AvWeek - May.24.09. Video (YouTube) of Flights 4 and 5.

Via Hobbyspace