Dick Stafford's Rocket Dungeon Blog 
Rocket Dungeon Posts
Other Rocketry / Armadillo
Armadillo NGLLC attempt today - complete coverage (2009-09-12)
Armadillo will fly the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge today at the Caddo Mills Airport northeast of Dallas. Weather permitting. Clark Lindsey is all over this event, amassing a list of ... [Read More]
100-year starship projects (2012-05-23)Tonight, High Power Rocketry points us to a proposed fantasy-scale project that would Build the Enterprise . The term fantasy-scale, borrowed from NAR contest rocketry, implies a flying ... [Read More]
Who let the Armadillo out? Who? Who? (2009-07-21)Well, Armadillo Aerospace themselves, of course. Clark Lindsey points to a video of last Saturday's untethered free flight of their Methane/LOX-powered lander. The video itself isn't that exciting ... [Read More]
Lander photo (comments updated) (2009-08-15)photo , originally uploaded by Russell Blink . Armadillo's latest lander. Is that a VGA monitor on the top? Update: Clark Lindsey reports that Armadillo will go for Level-2 of the Northrop ... [Read More]
2009 NGLLC: First Attempts (UPDATE) (2009-08-25)Update: For the record, this is a cross post, via my Google Reader, from The Launch Pad . 2009 NGLLC: First Attempts : " Today, we are very excited to announce the first group of 2009 Northrop ... [Read More]
"Excuse me while kiss the sky" (2009-09-11)Hendrix, Sep 11, 2009 , originally uploaded by Russell Blink . Lyrics by Hendrix. Hendrix by Armadillo. Photo by Russell Blink. [Read More]
Return to sender - Armadillo successfully completes leg #2 (2009-09-12)Clark Lindsey reports via PeterDiamandis : "flight 2 takeoff! and perfect flight back to original pad. Success!" All they have to do is get their lander back to the staging area. [Read More]
Armadillo flight videos (2009-09-13)Lunar Lander Challenge Level 2 Flight 1 Lunar Lander Challenge Level 2 Flight 2 [Read More]
Yes, someone has won the $1M (2009-09-13)Armadillo's success does not guarantee them the purse. If another team, ie Unreasonable Rocket or Masten, has a better mean landing accuracy, then they will edge Armadillo out. It's a good day in any ... [Read More]
Even better videos of Armadillo's successful X-prize flights (2009-09-13)These are really good. Check out the flame, the stability, and the gimballing of the thrust at landing. Includes on-board footage of touchdown. [Read More]
Nippin' at Armadillo's heels (2009-09-14)Paul Breed reports his Blue Ball had a 106 second stable hover . His qualification window is October 30-31. If you don't want to follow his blog, he is also on Twitter . If you don't want to ... [Read More]
Big launch week ahead (update) (2009-10-25)Ares I-X is scheduled to launch from Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39B at 8 a.m. Tuesday. The typical Florida weather may be a problem, however. The window is open until noon. ... [Read More]
Masten is loading LOX (update) (2009-10-29)Live! Update 1:49PM EDT: It looks like they are having the same problems as they did yesterday, which was a communications problem between the on-board computer and the GSE. This morning, they ... [Read More]
Both Masten and Unreasonable Rocket to fly the NGLLC today (updates) (2009-10-30)Masten around noon EDT and Unreasonable in the afternoon. I'm all for giving masten another shot, as long as it didn't squeeze Paul and his team. If it did, they should give him a window Sunday, ... [Read More]
Lander videos galore (2009-11-01)No word on what's up with Unreasonable Rocket's level-2 attempt, but the web yielded several videos of past lander flights by UR and others. Here is a downward looking video from Unreasonable ... [Read More]
Bloodhound SSC motor update (2009-11-04)Rocketeers.co.uk has an update on the development of the hybrid rocket motor for the Bloodhound SSC supersonic rocket car. The blogger expresses his/her " bitterly disappointed that we're ... [Read More]
Armadillo wants to take you higher (2009-11-05)Videos of Armadillos latest flight to 2959 ft (902 m) have made it to YouTube. I like the new pointy look! (spotted by Clark Lindsey , who has another one too) [Read More]
6 months in the life of Armadillo (2010-01-31)A reader (thanks George!) pointed me to Armadillos latest status report . This is big one, covering over 6 months of activity from the first Class III waiver issued by FAA AST, through the ... [Read More]
Armadillo boosted hop with 'chute deployment and engine restart (2010-06-06)One its latest flight, Armadillo's pointy Mod lander scooted to 2k', shut down its motor, deployed a drogue, drifted down a ways, released the 'chute, restarted its motor, and landed on target. ... [Read More]
Armadillo's 'Mod' lander gets a roll vane (2010-07-05)Here's a video of another flight to 2k' AGL. This time, roll is controlled by a vane vs. cold gas thrusters. I never get tired of these landers, especially the pointy ones. Note the spurious ... [Read More]
Another Armadillo 'Mod' video (2010-07-11)A new 3-pane video of a not so new flight (back on June 26th). Roll vane, (improved) drogue deployment, engine restart. (again via Clark Lindsey ) [Read More]
Tether test of the 'Super Mod' (2010-09-14)The Super Mod is more powerful, more aerodynamic, and sports shiny new telescopic legs. Last Saturday's test included perturbations to simulate the recovery from aerodynamic impulses. Armadillo says ... [Read More]
The Dungeon's Top Ten of 2010 (updated) (2010-12-05)Here is my yearly recap of what I think was most significant in and around the Dungeon. As originally mentioned, I jumped the gun on posting the list. It's now 100% complete! In no ... [Read More]
News about Armadillo's 'tuber' (2010-12-19)Dave Salt posted this comment here [on RLV and Space Transport News blog] regarding Armadillo's plans: I'm told that "tube vehicle" will be based upon Super-MOD design/technology but evolved to ... [Read More]
Armadillo goes totally tubular (2011-01-23)Armadillo's Ben Brockert has more info on Armadillo's latest . Their rockets are looking more and more like rockets (i.e. long and pointy). Here's is a photo from weldsman's Flickr stream. (two ... [Read More]
Review: Three scratch saucer-like objects (2011-01-28)This post documents three totally different saucer-like designs. The Half-Spool Jack-o-Lantern is made from a used CD-ROM and a small jack-o-lantern, the Instructables Frisbee Saucer is a paper ... [Read More]
New rocket term of the day: missilier (2011-02-08)Ben Brockert snaps a shot of the Tube Rocket with the fins on: It looks so much... missilier with the fins on - Twitpic (via Clark Lindsey ) [Read More]
Wanted Dead or Alive: Amateur rocket GPS tracked to >100K ft (2011-02-25)Rocketry Planet reported on a bounty offered by John Carmack of Armadillo Aerospace : Earlier this week, the gamer-turned-aerospace developer posted an offer of $5,000 for the first rocket to exceed ... [Read More]
Tutorial info on high altitude winds (2011-03-12)When I think of high altitude balloons, I generally just think the balloon will start moving with the ground winds and then transition smoothly to higher level winds such as those in the jet ... [Read More]
Static test of the day (2011-03-17)Stig didn't fly today as planned, but they did another static test. Click thru for a big version. (photo by Ben Brockert, found via Clark Lindsey ) [Read More]
Future Armadillos (2011-03-24)ParabolicArc posted these slides, which were presented by Armadillo Vice President Neil Milburn at the 14th Annual FAA Commercial Space Transportation Conference. I love clusters! BTW, Clark ... [Read More]
Tuesday Missile-any (2011-04-12)I see Loki Research will be sold to an employee and will live on. Dr. Frank Kosdon passed away last week at age 70. RP has a nice article on his legacy . Hope the weather holds for ... [Read More]
Project Morpheus, morphed from Armadillo's Quad lander (?) (2011-04-27)I heard of the Johnson Space Center's Project Morpheus . Here's an excerpt from their web site: Morpheus is a vertical test bed demonstrating new green propellant propulsion systems and autonomous ... [Read More]
Armadillo Supermod testing has begun (2011-05-07)While JSC is tweaking their methane-powered version of the Quad, Armadillo has begun testing their pointy, fin-legged Supermod. It spat "A bit of fire ... but not as much as we wanted." ... [Read More]
Links and nuttin' but links (2011-06-04)In no particular order: Here's a Flickr album on the flight of the the Copenhagen Suborbitals' HEAT 1X-Tycho Brahe flight: - Mission 2011 . And more HEAT 1X-Tycho Brahe videos, via Clark ... [Read More]
Armadillo postmortems on the Stig and Dalek (2011-06-16)Armadillo has posted very detailed flight reports on the 'tube rocket', Stig , and the finned SuperMod, Dalek . Both flights went up from Spaceport America and both failed. "Failed' may be a harsh ... [Read More]
Jeff Taylor and Curt Newport to try for 100K' and the Carmack Prize (2011-07-31)Ben Brockert, of Armadillo Aerospace, provided an update on the Carmack Prize, including the rules, the background, and information about the only announced launch attempt. Jeff Taylor and ... [Read More]
YAHP (yet another hodgepodge post) (2011-08-09)A reader provided links to photo essays about the Russian museum of the "NPP Zvezda" aerospace corporation. http://maksimzaitsev.livejournal.com/37521.html ( translated ) http://ru ... [Read More]
Eclectic Menagerie Park - Texas Pipe Supply (2011-10-16)A huge armadillo, Snoopy, King Kong, and rockets, oh my! The Eclectic Menagerie Park was created by the owners of Texas Pipe several years back as a way to give back to the community. The art ... [Read More]
At Armadillo, the rockets are beginning to look more like rockets (2011-11-09)Credit: Phil Eaton/Armadillo via Clark Lindsey [Read More]
And even more landers in the news (2011-11-21)I have this fascination with lander style rockets - Armadillo, Masten, Blue Origin, Unreasonable Rocket, JSC's Morpheus and, now, MSFC's Mighty Eagle. I love the way the latter appears to ... [Read More]
Armadillo flies to 137k ft (updated...already) (2011-12-06)Parabolic Arc reported that Armadillo's Stig-A "Tube Rocket" flew to 124,000' from Spaceport America [as noted below, the altitude was actually 137,500']. Love the Mach diamonds and, in ... [Read More]
Stiga post mortem (2011-12-23)Armadillo employee Ben Brockert has posted a ton of details about the Flight of the Stiga . The Stiga was 32' tall, 15.25' dia.and weighed about 1,600 lb. It pulled 3.85 G's on its ... [Read More]
The Dungeon's Top Ten of 2011 (2011-12-27)In no particular order.... Early in the year, I completed transferring reviews from the old EMRR (see the My Rocket Reviews Page ). I transferred (and updated) all but eight and, while I ... [Read More]
Feed reader stars and interesting links (2012-01-29)Oddroc of the day: Kinder Surprise Rocket , on Sascha Grant's Flickr photostream Armadillo flies STIG-A to 137kft, makes "hard landing" , RLV and Space Trasnport - via Jeff Foust via NM ... [Read More]
STIG-A ballute in space (2012-02-02)ARMADILLO PR — Following detailed analysis of the downlinked telemetry and audio/video recordings from both ground based cameras and a camera that was recovered from the rocket, Armadillo ... [Read More]
Feed reader stars and other interesting links (2012-02-08)Shark-eating shark snapped in Australia - Short Sharp Science Joyeux anniversaire, Jules Verne! - Smithsonian Libraries - Happy 189th! More on Armadillo STIG-A flight - RLV and ... [Read More]
Chrome 17 broke Blogger (updated) (2012-02-09)Update: Had to tweak the cookies exceptions. Don't know what happened in Chrome 17 that required this but all's well that ends well. Any page that allows me to comment on my own posts doesn't ... [Read More]
Stiga Flight 2 to 95km by Armadillo Aerospace (2012-02-22)We finally get the video footage of Stiga's second flight on Jan. 28th. The highlights: the upward looking pad cam; skip to about 3:30 in to see some photos of the earth and the recovery gear; ... [Read More]
Feed reader stars, tweets and other interesting links (2012-03-13)JSC's methane-fueled Morpheus Lander (built by Armadillo) performed another tethered hover today. Although longer than the last one, it was not different enough to warrant a separate post. ... [Read More]
Feed reader stars, tweets and other interesting links (2012-03-27)Desert Wings, Aviation in the American Southwest - Mostly about military aircraft, but does include info on ordinance (i.e. missiles). Armadillo's big tube - RLV and Space Transportation - No ... [Read More]
Links roundup (2012-04-17)Space Shuttle launch set to Countdown by Rush Link Lattte 178 - DRB A still photo from Armadillo Stig-Stiga engine test today, because rockets are pretty. twitpic.com/9b1gn3 — Ben ... [Read More]
Armadillo gets their Operator Launch License for the STIG (2012-07-26)SANTA CLARA, Calif. (Armadillo PR) — At Newspace 2012 hosted by the Space Frontier Foundation in Santa Clara CA, Dr. George Nield, Associate Administrator for the FAA Office of ... [Read More]
Xombie 750m Mars EDL Divert Trajectory (2012-08-16)On their blog, Masten discusses the latest Xombie flight. And, of course, there are videos. Xombie went to new heights, moved at faster speeds, and translated further. "As far as we know, the ... [Read More]
Links roundup (2012-10-11)B612 Foundation Moves Ahead With NEO Mission , NASA Watch SpaceX Rocket Launch Glitch Left Piggyback Satellite in Wrong Orbit , Space.com SRB-X options , Unwanted Blog MODEL MISSILES ... [Read More]
Video of a Stig B precision landing (2012-12-06)Here is a video of the latest Stig B flight, which was controlled by a system developed by Wamore, Inc . The system is expected to return the rocket within 80m. The depicted landing was at 55m. ... [Read More]
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of the latest Stig-B flight (a.k.a. "Sad Armadillos") (2013-03-01)The Good = the launch (great footage from multiple perspectives). The Bad = deployment problems, D'OH. The Ugly = ground impact! [Read More]
The Rockwell Integrated Space Plan, remastered (2013-07-06)Last year, I posted about Ronald Jones' Rockwell Integrated Space Plan (1989) , which Make Magazine received from an anonymous source. The plan has been remastered and color coded in a vector ... [Read More]
