THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2009
NEWS
9A
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SPACE
Private rockets compete for prestigious NASA prize
A rocket built by Armadillo Aerospace fuels up in the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge at Caddo Mills, Texas, on Sept. 12. The rocket qualified for a $1 million prize offered by NASA by completing simulated lunar flights.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — A privately built rocket vying for NASA prize money lifted off in the Mojave Desert and flew half of a simulated lunar lander mission Wednesday before an engine problem forced its developers to call off the attempt until next month.
The flight of Masten Space Systems' unmanned "Xombie" at Moiave Air and Space Port comes just days after another competitor, Armadillo Aerospace, qualified for the $1 million top prize with two flights in Texas.
The Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge is funded by NASA and presented by the X Prize Foundation, the group behind the $10 million competition won in 2004 by SpaceShipOne, the first privately developed manned rocket to reach space and prototype for a fleet of space tourism rockets.
The remotely controlled Xombie is competing for second-place in the first level of the competition, which requires a flight from one pad to another and back within two hours and 15 minutes. Each flight must rise 164 feet and last 90 seconds. How close the rocket lands to the pad's center is also a factor.
Level 2 requires 180-second flights and a rocky moonlike landing pad. The energy used is equivalent to that needed for a real descent from lunar orbit to the surface of the moon and a return to orbit, said Peter Diamandis, founder of the X Prize.
The Xombie made one 93-second flight and landed within 8 inches of the pad's center, according to Tom Dietz, a competition spokesman.
David Masten, president and chief executive of Masten Space Systems, said the first leg of the flight was perfect but an internal
engine leak was detected during an inspection before the return flight.
"We saw a little bit of an issue ... in the engine and decided that the engine probably would not survive through another 90-second flight," he said.
The problem had occurred previously, usually after three or four engine firings, but was believed to have been fixed. Masten said the engine had been through a dozen firings without problems prior to Wednesday.
Masten nonetheless considered the flight a success.
"Other than that engine problem the vehicle was very well behaved," he said.
The rockets in the lander
competition look like plumber's playthings — all pipes and tanks without the sleek fairings, fancy paint and decals seen on launch vehicles that carry satellites into orbit.
"If a rocket doesn't look like a flying propellant tank it's actually not a very efficient rocket," said John Carmack, the Armadillo Aerospace founder whose "Scorpius" rocket holds the lead in the lander challenge.
On Sept. 12, the Scorpius successfully made two flights in the Level 2 competition and will win the $1 million top prize if no other contender does better.
Last year, Armadillo won first place and $350,000 in the Level 1 competition.
MEDICINE
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Dr. Kenneth Salyer, center, holds twin brothers Mohamed Ibrahim, left, and Ahmed Ibrahim during a welcoming party in Dallas, Texas, on Sept. 16. The formerly conjoined Egyptian twins who were separated six years ago in Dallas have returned to Texas for checkups. The boys, born joined at the top of their heads, were separated in 2003 during a 34-hour procedure. The boys, separated when they were two years old, are now eight.
Once-conjoined twins revisit US
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ibrahim (ee-BRAH-heem) attend school in Cairo, where they live with their parents and siblings.
DALLAS — Formerly conjoined Egyptian twins separated six years ago by surgeons in Dallas are back in Texas for checkups.
The boys were joined at the tops of their heads and separated in 2003 during a 34-hour procedure.
On Wednesday, the boys were at the Texas Hospital for Advanced Medicine in Dallas, where they got a CT scan and were treated to a pizza-and ice cream party. The hospital is launching a new Reconstructive Surgery Institute
founded by Dr. Kenneth Salyer (SAL-yur). Salyer brought the twins to Dallas for separation through his nonprofit World Craniofacial Foundation.
Salyer says Mohamed is on target developmentally, but Ahmed is still a bit behind.
Now 8, Mohamed and Ahmed
ENERGY
ENERGY Students lobby colleges to end coal dependency
sources ranging from wood chips to geothermal power.
COLUMBIA, Mo. — College students nationwide are urging their schools to stop using coal produced at campus power plants or purchased from private utilities in favor of cleaner energy
On Wednesday, students at several campuses nationwide mounted a Coal-Free Campus campaign led by the Sierra Club. The campaign began the same day college presidents rallied in Washington in support of clean energy legislation.
out Missouri, UCLA, Oregon State, Indiana, Minnesota and six other schools that need to further their efforts to end coal use.
Several schools in recent years have opted to forego campus coal plants in response to student protests and regulatory scrutiny.
A Sierra Club report singled
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