Perhaps the coolest rocketry video I've ever seen...

[maverik94]

Two words..."BAD ASS!!!". That looks like it's straight out of a sci-fi movie...except for one thing...it's real!

[Technician1002]

I've followed some of their X Prize entries in the past. I had not seen this latest video. They have posted some of their failures too. A tethered flight that went bad was pretty spectacular. Just like many spudders, sometimes it doesn't work right the first time. Learn from your mistakes and try again.
This video is great and shows just how much went into working up to where they are today.
http://media.armadilloaerospace.com/misc/sff04_low.mpg

[D_Hall]

I had not seen this latest video.

That's 'cause it was less than 24 hours old when I posted it.

There were other camera views and AA will edit them together and put them in a "nice" video to post to the webpage, but Carmack and Co. were stoked after the flight and just HAD to let everybody know (and we thank them for it!).

Very cool stuff.

[saefroch]

Been hearing a lot more about space tourism lately, and I'm glad to finally see some concrete development evidence. VTOL is almost always a better choice for transport. Also with such developments, space tourism might be available to us commoners. Now that would be awesome.

Nice posting speed! Somebody's really in on this stuff...

[D_Hall]

Nice posting speed! Somebody's really in on this stuff...

I've never actually met John, but he and I have been exchanging emails for about 12 years now (since before he started Armadillo Aerospace). It's kinda funny... When I first started talking to him I had no idea who he was. He was just some guy who shared my hobby. Then one day he sent me a picture of himself in his garage with his latest rocket. In the background was a Ferarri. I was like, "WTF? A Ferarri? Who is this guy?" Not being much of a gamer I had no clue. A bit of googling later I realized who I'd been talking to.

[CpTn_lAw]

You receive e-mails from the creator of Doom? I envy you. This guy is a genius...

[Lentamentalisk]

Wow. Just wow. I have seen a lot of Armadillo's progress, which is damn impressive, but this is just outstanding. Not only is it capable of doing this, but it proves that the vector thrust control is good enough to handle being knocked off course by just about anything. It was able to recover from such swinging, so it could recover from major impacts it seems.

[POLAND_SPUD]

but it isn't anything new...
back in the 1950s and 1960s there have been many experiments with VTOLs

ever heard of avrocar??

[Ragnarok]

Pah, you can't fool me. It didn't land vertically, they just filmed it taking off, then played it backwards. :tongue3:

[Gun Freak]

Pah, you can't fool me. It didn't land vertically, they just filmed it taking off, then played it backwards. :tongue3:

HAHA at first I believed you then I went back and watched it again! lol yeah that explains the parachute and the wobbling on the way down

[Technician1002]

The Moon landing was vertical landing on the LEM and takeoff on the ascent stage. The decent stage remains on the surface. Landing and take off used two different engines. This was to carry enough fuel and shed weight of the spent engine and tanks for the return take-off.

[D_Hall]

And today we have two more videos of the same shot. Different camera angles and such...


http://media.armadilloaerospace.com/201 ... l_edit.wmv
http://media.armadilloaerospace.com/201 ... square.wmv

[Gun Freak]

HAHA I love how the guys yells "PERFECT!!!" when it lands

[i-will]

OH MY LORD! HOW THE HELL DID THEY MANAGE TO COMPLETE THAT LAST STAGE OF THE FLIGHT PLAN? efing genius. i would have loved to be apart of that team in high school.

[D_Hall]

John Carmack and friends had another good shot on Sunday....


[youtube][/youtube]