Private Firms Preparing for Moon Flights

Testing, Testing .... Armadillo Aerospace's Super Mod rocket makes the first free-flight landing on a surface designed to mimic a lunar surface. Armadillo Aerospace

From Discovery Magazine:

Sept. 21, 2009 -- Lured by millions of dollars in prize money, teams of private firms aren't waiting for NASA to figure out if, when and how to get back to the moon. They're preparing to go themselves.

The first $1 million prize for demonstrating a lunar landing system is due to be awarded at the end of October. The front-runner is Texas-based Armadillo Aerospace, which this month made back-to-back flights of a vehicle named Scorpius.

Two other contenders plan to enter the NASA-backed competition before this year's cutoff on Oct. 31.

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