The James Newton phantom persona * sent me a message which claimed that this wasn't properly headed so here it may be again again (* not to be confused with the real one) ____ *** IF YOU ARE MORE THAN HALF INTERESTED IN ROCKETS *** YOU SHOULD VIEW THE VIDEO *** Read below to see why. The fact that nobody commented on this originally probably means it didn't attract the attention it deserved. Even if you are only half interested in rockets you probably want to take the effort to download this video > http://www.armadilloaerospace.com/n.x/Armadillo/Home/News?news_id=263 > > Video (7.3 MB) ** This is one of the top achievements ever in amateur rocketry**, and ** this achievement has seldom been exceeded by professionals.** This is a fully controlled vertical takeoff (big deal) AND LANDING (immense deal) rocket. Working within the current USA restrictions of a legal 15 second burn time limit, you see a rocket which is rather larger than a man (about the size and shape of a very tall thin hot water cylinder with a nose cone) relatively slowly leave the ground, fly to 130 feet, hover briefly and then descend base first vertically to land within about 1 foot of its takeoff point. As it ascends and descends you can see it wobble very slightly off vertical as the 4 jet vane controls keep it aligned. On landing on its surprisingly small footprint base it rocks very slightly. Rocket deflection can be seen occasionally during the flight. The only rockets that I am aware of that have achieved this feat are the DCX experimental rocket whose program was aborted, and a Japanese experimental craft. This is true "Flash Gordon" rocket ship technology. Look for a version 5 times this size (under construction) to be carrying a 3 man crew to the edge of space in the next few years. Burt Rutan's air launched SpaceShipOne will probably win the X Prize in the next few months (but may yet instead die) but John Carmack's craft is the worlds first amateur "rocket ship" as the concept has always been envisaged. As someone said - "DCX - it takes off and lands base first, as God and Robert Heinlein intended". RM > Progress by John Carmack & team. > Very nice flight of largish prototype rocket. > Ground to ground with controlled vertical takeoff and landing. > > Report > > > http://www.armadilloaerospace.com/n.x/Armadillo/Home/News?news_id=263 > > Video (7.3 MB) > > > > 131 feet in air. > Landed 1 foot from takeoff point. > Notice how stably it comes down. -- http://www.piclist.com hint: The PICList is archived three different ways. See http://www.piclist.com/#archives for details.