Rocket Racing League test flight video

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The Rocket Racing League engine spec has changed and John Carmack's Armadillo Aerospace has won the contract to power the racers. MSNBC has a cool video of one of the RRL's test flights and I thought you guys would get a kick out of it - and yes, the colored plume is from an additive.

Link.....

UPDATE:

This 7 minute WMV video from Armadillo Aerospace, shot newsreel style, has better RRL footage plus several minutes on their X-Prize lunar lander vehicle and a graphic of the rocket they plan on launching later this year at Spaceport America, NM.

 

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That thing hauls backside. Notice the short take-off and steep climb. It really is a racer and the landspeed has to be fast.

 

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I'll have to look up the source, but elsewhere I read a quote from the test pilot - he said the only thing he's been in that accelerated faster was a catapult-launched F-18, a real kick in the can. 2,500 lbs of thrust in a Velocity XL airframe that only weights ~2,900 lbs, almost a 1:1 power to weight ratio, will do that to 'ya

Carmack also said they're going after Svetlana Savitskaya's record for the fastest climb to 3,000 meters (9,842 feet) - 41.2 sec. set in 1974.