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    'Xombie' rocket makes first free-flight for NASA

    MOJAVE, Calif. (AP) — A privately built rocket has made its first free-flight in the California desert as part of a NASA program exploring vertical landing systems for solar system exploration.

    The autonomous flight occurred earlier this month at the Mojave Air and Space Port about 90 miles north of Los Angeles.

    Masten Space Systems' unmanned rocket named Xombie lifted off the ground, flew horizontally and landed at a pad 164 feet away. The demonstration lasted 67 seconds.

    In 2009, Masten won a $1 million prize in a NASA-backed simulated lunar landing contest using the Xombie rocket. The space agency awarded Masten and another company, Armadillo Aerospace, $475,000 in 2010 to test vehicles that could carry small payloads to "near-space" — altitudes between 65,000 feet and 350,000 feet.

    ___

    Online:

    Flight video: http://bit.ly/wQ77uA

     

    23 comments

    • Skunkchump  •  Death Valley, California  •  3 mths ago
      Great work Masten, moving along nicely. It's good to hear some positive news.
      • veteran 3 mths ago
        you mean oops more typical government waste see above comment
    • Kevin  •  3 mths ago
      Brains, the final frontier.
      • pleasegodnomore 3 mths ago
        "Brains.... Xombie needs More BRAINS!!!!!"
      • veteran 3 mths ago
        lets see 65 to 350000 feet altitude lift capability hmmm seems as tho the german ww2 v2 had that ability in oh 1944 why are we paying to develope a capability that has existed since the 1940s when we need REAL lift systems that can lift a 747s cargo load to at least high earth orbit
    • oldtimer  •  3 mths ago
      Notice the small fund compared to what maybe Lockheed, Boeing might have gotten..
      • veteran 3 mths ago
        and for whitch you would have gotten a true space launch ssystem
      • veteran 3 mths ago
        look we have had the capability to do what it is intended to do with unguided thus very very cheap systems we need real lift capability to re place shuttle reusable launch vehicals with real heavy lit abilities this thig does nothig useful except to show a fuel using vertical lift and land ability and those are inefficent to the max the bst idea so far is virgin aerospaces equipment
    • kevin  •  Grand Junction, Colorado  •  3 mths ago
      It's live lunar lander!!! I just hope they realize it ain't gonna be the same in different atmosphere...still, cool as hell
      • pleasegodnomore 3 mths ago
        From the website, their engines are oxygen/hydrocarbon bi-propellant. I'm guessing the hydrocarbon is kerosene, but maybe not. Regardless, they're bringing their own oxidizer, so the reaction should be atmospherically independent.
      • kevin 3 mths ago
        nice, but i'm talking more about winds, flying debris, stronger gravity etc....
      • Eric 3 mths ago
        Exactly, Kevin. In any other atmosphere it will be used, there will be less winds, flying debris and gravity. In other words, if it can work on Earth, it will work on any other body that will be explored within the lifetime of the program, i.e. the moon and Mars.
    • Eater of Souls  •  3 mths ago
      Cool!
    • the old red neck  •  Pyeongtaek-Si, South Korea  •  3 mths ago
      at least they are trying what have you done???
    • SeerOfDreams  •  Derry, New Hampshire  •  3 mths ago
      Too bad this stuff won't be used for many years (if at all) thanks to budget cuts in planetary exploration.
    • Petercha  •  3 mths ago
      Cool! Glad this worked.
      • veteran 3 mths ago
        why its a toy
      • Damn You 3 mths ago
        Yeah... now we can launch zombies like you to where ever?!?!?!
    • Robert L.B  •  3 mths ago
      It is still a rocket, so I am not overly impressed.
    • R J  •  3 mths ago
      Tax Payer money? Did any of you brain dead morons actually READ the first paragraph? It says, "A privately built rocket". People are stupid, no one reads, no one pays attention, there is no basic comprehension. It amazes me that any of you can drive a car, dress yourselves and operate a vending machine. What scares me the most is that you idiots have the right to vote.
    • maxey  •  3 mths ago
      to infinity...
    • Torgo  •  3 mths ago
      It sounds a lot like the DC-X from the 90's.
    • Norske  •  Columbus, Ohio  •  3 mths ago
      This technology should have been explored 30 years ago and perfected 15.
    • Adrian  •  3 mths ago
      Space exploration is important to America because we can't trust Earth's destiny
    • American Sheeple  •  3 mths ago
      Zombie rocket?
    • fort557  •  Los Angeles, California  •  3 mths ago
      Will it create Zombies or distroy them?
    • O.G. - Oscar the Grouch  •  3 mths ago
      so we can safely land a nuke in iran before it explodes? kind of like showing off LOL.
    • veteran  •  Dallas, Texas  •  3 mths ago
      a toy no more when we shuold have launch vehicals capable of lifting 100000 pounds into high orbit we are playing with midget rockets unable to orbit anything
    • NONYA  •  Dalton, Georgia  •  3 mths ago
      Nasa, the space agency parisite, handing out prize money.
    • dr strangelove  •  3 mths ago
      67 seconds?? 164 feet?? Won 1 million dollars!! What did they use 1/2 A engines?? Dang I shot off model rockets that went further and longer than that when I was 11 years old. Give me a 1/2 million and Ill put a D engine in that sucker and shoot that thing a mile. Ill even launch a grasshopper in the nosecone for another quarter million.
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