Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Congradulations to Masten.

Congratulations to Masten. They did as good a job as is likely possible.

Their preliminary average landing accuracy was 15cm so based on my understanding of the rules we would have to have an average accuracy of 4.9 cm to beat them The vehicle reference point can move 5 cm just depending on how it settles on the gear. That is impressive.

To Tie and split the purse
we would need an accuracy of 25.9 cm or better.

On Monday I stopped by their shop and got a look at their L2 vehicle (I think I can now say this publicly as they have now published a picture of it) it's very light and looks largely complete. They probably just have to bolt the engine and electronics from xombie on it and they have a real good shot at Level 2.

All in all a very discouraging week.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Just remember: Armadillo had lightweight, nearly-complete vehicles a couple of years in a row; and still failed to have successful/winning flights!

I hope you continue to push 'til the end - I'd hate to see you struggle through the last couple of years (with both failures AND successes), and wind up not even taking a stab at the prize!

Joe said...

1 guy and his son in a garage vs. a funded development company with a profit motive vs. a millionaire game developer. Paul, your intellect and heart can handle it. You can make it to the finish line. Yes you can.

gravityloss said...

Time to put in shock absorbers to reduce landing bob to zero!

You have the advantage of knowing how well you have to do.

You also have very good demonstrated GPS accuracy, I gather.

There's a good chance this will be a close race for L1 and for L2 as well! Go Pauls!

Gabriel said...

As gravityloss said "You have the advantage of knowing how well you have to do." and where to focus. Go Unreasonable! Go!

Jon Goff said...

Paul,
It may be tough as you say to flat-out beat us, but we wouldn't be heartbroken at all to have to split the $150k prize with you guys. As for Level 2, it's still completely up in the air, and there are two unclaimed prizes there as well. Personally I'd love to have all three of our teams (Masten, Armadillo, and Unreasonable Rocket) getting goofy oversized checks.

Good luck guys!

~Jon

David said...

Masten have done well - that is granted. You have done brilliantly. Given your resources it is amazing what you have achieved. Chin up. You just never know - 1st 2nd level prize can still be taken. No one can assume at this point that they can complete that flight. Go Paul Go.

Ben Brockert said...

Thanks for stopping by, Paul, it was good to see you guys again.

You've done amazing work in a really short time with a tiny team. We've got nothing but respect for you guys.

I really think both competitions are still open.