Armadillo Aerospace - New Video Update

[mattfalk]

Thanks!  It was great to finally see some of these mysterious competitors first-hand.  I've got Bon Nova's lander name there now, "Laurayd".  For those interested, I've finally put up shots of the airshow portion of the event...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/musematt11/sets/72157602907119231/

Matt

[jimvela]

There's a new update at the Armadillo homepage:

http://armadilloaerospace.com/n.x/Armadillo/Home/News?news_id=352

[Lampyridae]

Another update:

http://www.armadilloaerospace.com/n.x/Armadillo/Home/News?news_id=355

Interesting to see how their suborbital vehicle plans are starting to take shape.

[astrobrian]

kinda curious as to what it was kicking up there. pretty big chunks whatever they were

[Tergenev]

Lots of interesting details in this update. I find it fascinating how this group of amateurs (are they still that? They've gotten so much hot test experience they may only be 'pseudo-amateurs' at this point.) keeps radically changing their nozzle and plumbing designs. And they still produce more flight time than almost anyone else. Somehow, I bet Dr. Goddard would really love this group of guys.

Switching from the graphite nozzle to an all stainless design seems rather radical. But it seems to be working.

I'm going to be really curious to see if they can get their 'four modules strapped together' design to actually fly and hover. I do hope they win that Air Force phase II SBIR.

And to summarize their hopeful plans:

-Fly the four engine design and test stability. (Win the $100 bet)
-Break the four engine design up into four single modules and fly them to 4000' at the Oklahoma spaceport. Plan on crashing one or several there.
-Take any that survive to SpacePort America, lop its legs off, and try to get it to fly to 100km.
-If the four engine design works, build a six engine design that uses the tanks as landing gear. Put a plexiglas 'cabin' on top.

good luck, guys.

[Zapp]

Another new uppdate
http://www.armadilloaerospace.com/n.x/Armadillo/Home/News?news_id=356

[josh_simonson]

That six pack vehicle looks scary.  I guess that would be more for thrill seekers than 'tourists'.

[DarthVader]

Yeah it sure look scary. Is there going to be a parachute to bring the "lucky" tourist back down in case the engine fail to re-start?

[Tergenev]

What I find more depressing about this report is the fact that Armadillo seems to be going back to nearly scratch when it comes to their engine designs. That, and the fact that once again timid neighbors have squelched much of what made 'New Space' possible, low overhead and quick turnaround.  I'm sure that we'll see the next shoe drop soon. No more public reports because somebody will complain to some authority somewhere who will go yell at them. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that someone who reads this board has already done just that.

[Jim]

Tergenev - 25/2/2008  3:05 PM
That, and the fact that once again timid neighbors have squelched much of what made 'New Space' possible, low overhead and quick turnaround.  I'm sure that we'll see the next shoe drop soon. No more public reports because somebody will complain to some authority somewhere who will go yell at them. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that someone who reads this board has already done just that.

Where is the bit on " timid neighbors" and what "authority " ?

[hyper_snyper]

josh_simonson - 25/2/2008  2:51 PM

That six pack vehicle looks scary.  I guess that would be more for thrill seekers than 'tourists'.

Yeah, I hope there is more than those tethers holding that fish bowl secure to the vehicle.

On the other hand, that rocket truck is awesome.  Also, I think it's good they're starting from nearly scratch on their engines.  Better to get the problems that prevented them from winning the LLCs out of the way.

[HMXHMX]

hyper_snyper - 25/2/2008  3:25 PM

josh_simonson - 25/2/2008  2:51 PM

That six pack vehicle looks scary.  I guess that would be more for thrill seekers than 'tourists'.

Yeah, I hope there is more than those tethers holding that fish bowl secure to the vehicle.

On the other hand, that rocket truck is awesome.  Also, I think it's good they're starting from nearly scratch on their engines.  Better to get the problems that prevented them from winning the LLCs out of the way.

Vostok used the same technique.

[nacnud]

I think I would feel safer with the perspex globe landing separately under a parachute, rather then relying on the engines to restart. Does anyone know if this is the plan.

[meiza]

I don't think so nacnud, you'd be at wind's mercy...

[Lampyridae]

You would have reentry heat loads on the way down, plus there's the possibility of a tumble. I don't know how stable such a thing would be, given the CG offset of the pilot. low densities and supersonic speeds.

Aborts from a stricken 6-pack would be tricky but I think the 6-pack would fall tail first. Cut away the top half of the sphere, let your drogue go and then let it pull you to safety. The 6-pack would have a lower falling speed because of its draggy design. If the 6-pack comes down too hard, the fuel tanks are crushed (and hopefully there isn't a fire). I can imagine a terrified newly-minted astronaut zorbing their way out of a catastrophic-looking fire...

I don't think perspex is a good idea, from an explosion point of view. Perspex shatters. A crushable base would be good for explosions or capsule separations. But it would be a wild view!

[Zapp]

I think armadillos plan is to throttle the engines way way down and fall back to earth under some form of control. That throttability combined with there choice not to use any pumps leaves them with a very special engine design and that turns out to be VERY hard.

And there is no need to get depressed over the fact that they are unable to test at the shop, that episode is over a year old. See http://www.armadilloaerospace.com/n.x/Armadillo/Home/News?news_id=336 for more info on that.

[Jim]

Tergenev - 25/2/2008  3:05 PM

What I find more depressing about this report is the fact that Armadillo seems to be going back to nearly scratch when it comes to their engine designs. That, and the fact that once again timid neighbors have squelched much of what made 'New Space' possible, low overhead and quick turnaround.  I'm sure that we'll see the next shoe drop soon. No more public reports because somebody will complain to some authority somewhere who will go yell at them. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that someone who reads this board has already done just that.

Rocket science is not meant to be done in areas designated "light industrial"

'New Space' possible? Proof please.   No it just means that "Old Space" was doing it right in the first place.  Most of them looked for isolated places first.  'New Space' is moving towards "Old Space"  because the "tried and true" practices are there for a reason

[savuporo]

Jim - 26/2/2008  2:32 AM
Rocket science is not meant to be done in areas designated "light industrial"

There is very little "science" in what Armadillo is doing. Just old school hands on engineering. Almost forgotten art in aerospace designer circles.

[crab nebula2]

I noticed on Armadillo's last update that they were not awarded a phase II small business innovative research (SBIR) contract.  This is a crying shame.  As a retired aerospace engineer I worked on several phase II SBIR contracts, one was even a rocket propulsion project for the US Airforce.  The results of these efforts didn't amount to a hill of beans!  With Armadillo, the Airforce had a chance to award a contract that would actually make a difference.  Shame on them!