Comments on: A privately built NASA unmanned lunar lander crashed during a test flight today in Florida.

By: Joe

Joe — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 23:42:50 +0000

It is amazing how often cynical clichés are repeatedly proven to be true.

In this case – “Success has a thousand fathers, but failure is an orphan.”

By: Robert Zimmerman

Robert Zimmerman — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 19:18:58 +0000

In reply to Clark S. Lindsey. Hi Clark, Thanks for the clarification. I had thought Armadillo was more involved than it obviously was. That it isn't is a fact I needed to know for my appearance tonight with John Batchelor.

By: Clark S. Lindsey

Clark S. Lindsey — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 19:16:55 +0000

Hi Bob,
I think “privately built” is an exaggeration. Armadillo Aerospace worked closely with the JSC group on the original version of their lander but I don’t believe Armadillo had much to do directly with this one. (The design, of course, follows closely to that of Armadillo’s quad vehicles.) The recent AIAA Horizons magazine cover article on Morpheus only mentions Armadillo in passing: http://www.aiaahouston.org/Horizons/Horizons_2012_05_and_06.pdf

The JSC team clearly wanted to make it appear that they built it, though with help from private firms and other NASA groups.