Catching Up on X PRIZE Cup Posting

I've been focused on the Space Elevator Games lately, so it's time I caught up on some other posts - especially on the X PRIZE Cup. After all, it's also in just a few days!

Fortunately, Space.com just posted a review of the Lunar Lander Challenge, including the latest status of the competitors. The competition is down to Acuity and Armadillo Aerospace:

Armadillo still hopes to bring their two different vehicles, Pixel in Level Two, and "the MOD" in Level One. Acuity is building two substantially similar vehicles, called "Tiger" and "Cardinal".

You can see a picture of a Lunar Landing Landscape for the challenge here.

RLV News has a post with a link to the Holloman Air and Space Expo site that includes the air show by the Holloman Air Force Base and the X PRIZE Cup. This site includes an overview of the whole event. You can also get directions there. Be careful about what gate you go to so you don't have to get turned around.

Another RLV News post links to the FAA Final X PRIZE Cup Environmental Assessment. It's one huge document, with a "Finding of No Significant Impact". From my brief overview, it looks like, in the context of a working Air Force base, the quick suborbital rockets should have negligible impact to the various environmental factors they investigated (noise, wildlife, air, and many others).

There's also a post about LLC competitors Armadillo and Acuity. Check out Acuity's Hovering Rocket Vehicle.