With the moon visible overhead, Armadillo Aerospace unsuccessfully attempted to win the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge at the Wirefly X PRIZE Cup this weekend at Holloman Air Force Base. The only competitor of nine ready to go for the event, Armadillo Aerospace, led by John Carmack of Doom and Quake fame, experienced both successes and failures during multiple launch attempts. While able to rise 50 meters from the launch pad, move laterally 50 meters, and land after staying aloft at least 90 seconds, the teams vehicle was not able to repeat this feat to return to the launch pad within two and a half hours as required by competition rules. Earlier failures included thrust vectoring problems due to a crack in the vehicle’s engine and an aborted launch soon after liftoff. The team was able to repair some damage rapidly to try again later, but their final attempt on Sunday ended in disaster, with flames engulfing the vehicle immediately after the launch sequence began.

Armadillo Aerospace, a private company started by Doom and Quake game developer John Carmack, has been the leading contender for the prize that is intended to accelerate techniques and innovations for future lunar landers. The other eight registrants were not ready by the time of the event to compete. At stake is $350,000 in prize money for first place in level one of the competition. Level two will award a larger prize but requires 180 seconds aloft over rough terrain. Peter Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation, explained to the audience that the competition’s return flight requirement is meant to demonstrate reusability of the vehicle within a short amount of time by a small team of technicians. This contrasts with shuttle launches that require many people, several months, and approximately US$1,000,000,000 in costs for turnaround.

The failure by Armadillo Aerospace to walk away with the prize opens up the competition to other teams during the 2008 X PRIZE Cup. According to a representative for the Speed Up team, they only need a few more months to make “Laramie Rose,” their entry vehicle, ready for competition.

A race to space is shaping up in the private industry and once a year the public is invited to see the latest breakthroughs, vehicles, and competitions intended to accelerate this progress. The Wirefly X PRIZE Cup was held October 26 through 28 at the Holloman Air Force Base near Alamogordo, New Mexico, USA. Combined with the annual Holloman Air and Space Expo, the event featured a single competitor attempt to win the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge, exhibits, flyovers, and, perhaps, a brief lull in space enthusiasm.

• Event Announcement
• Armadillo Aerospace’s Latest Competition Attempt Fails

• CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment 2007
• Moscone Center, San Francisco, CA, USA
• October 23-25, 2007
• Description:
  

  Our fall trade show is billed as “One Show, Two Personalities,” as it focuses on the emerging role wireless is playing in the enterprise and entertainment worlds.

  The show focuses on the integration of wireless data technologies into the enterprise through vertical business markets such as healthcare, government, automotive, retail etc. as well as the explosive growth in wireless entertainment—encompassing everything from music downloads to digital cameras to interactive games.

  CTIA WIRELESS I.T. & Entertainment® is the most well-attended mobile data convention in the industry, attracting more than 15,000 attendees, 300 exhibitors and more than 600 members of the media and analyst communities.

• 2007 Space Elevator Games
• Davis County Event Center, Greater Salt Lake City Area, USA
• October 19-21, 2007
• Description:
  

  • What: Space Elevator extravaganza, including:
    • Space Elevator Power Beaming Competition
    • Space Elevator Tether Strength Competition
    • Space Elevator Multimedia Special
    • Space Elevator Models
    • NEW! Light Racing - (details) - K-12, families, and Grown-ups ($10,000 in prizes)
  • Why: Because the future is a lot closer than it appears!

• W3C TPAC 2007: World Wide Web Consortium Technical Plenary / Advisory Committee Meetings Week
• Hyatt Regency Cambridge, Cambridge, MA, USA
• November 5-10, 2007
• Description:
  

  TPAC 2007: the Combined Technical Plenary / Advisory Committee meetings week brings together W3C Working and Interest Groups, the Advisory Board, the TAG and the Advisory Committee for an exciting week of coordinated work. The highlight of the week is the Plenary Day, Wednesday, 7 November, for all to attend.

• Web 2.0 Summit
• San Francisco, CA, USA
• October 17-19, 2007
• Description:
  

  Where are we most stimulated? At the Web’s edge.

  Where are the greatest opportunities, and the greatest risks? At the Web’s edge—the places where the Web is just beginning to take root: the industries, geographies, and applications that have yet to be conquered by the Web’s wide reach.

  For the past three years, the Web 2.0 Summit has explored ideas which have already begun to slip into the mainstream. This year, we’ll highlight news from unusual suspects—the enthusiasts and dreamers touching the edges of spaces not yet conquered by the Web, as well as established players who are looking to expand into new and previously unimaginable realms.

  How is the Web infiltrating new beachheads in areas we never thought it could—or would? What are the majors doing at the edge, at the loony “twenty percent time” at Google, in the labs at MSN, IBM, etc., that might inform entirely new applications, opportunities, even threats? What are the edge startups promising to redefine the center? What are the things we wish or know the Web can do, but so far, is failing us? What are the edges in terms of policy, politics, and morality? Learn More about Web 2.0 Summit…

• DEMO Germany
• Munich, Germany
• October 16, 2007
• Description:
  

  Innovations, innovations and even more innovations! And all that every six minutes. Successful in the USA for more than a decade, be there when IDG brings the DEMO Conference to Germany!

  German and European IT companies use this forum, a completely new type of conference format for the German-speaking market, to introduce their innovative products and solutions in compact “nutshell” presentations.

  Six-minute presentations on stage (without PowerPoint!) decide on the marketability of a product, the financing of additional growth strategies and the development of identified target groups and markets. If you are an employee or partner of a venture capital company, an editor from the IT or financial press or a potential cooperation or business partner for these “innovations”, a visit to the DEMO conference is an absolute must.

  DEMO is where ideas are turned into a reality and possibilities are turned into opportunities. It is the only place where you can get a sneak peek at the products and people shaping our technology landscape for the future.

  Join and see the world’s most groundbreaking technologies.

• Division for Planetary Sciences 39th Annual Meeting
• The University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA
• October 07-12, 2007

• [PDF] International Workshop on Human Longevity: Unraveling the Secrets of Human Longevity
• Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia
• November 26-27, 2007
• Description:
  

  Longevity is the length of a person’s life. Complex mechanisms of genetic dispositions, early life conditions, current lifestyles are important causes in determining individual’s life span. This workshop is intended to provide a broad overview of bio-demographic ideas, models, methods, and findings regarding human aging, mortality and longevity incorporating interdisciplinary approach. The aims are to bridge the gap between biological, mathematical and social sciences as well as nurturing the understanding and collaboration amongst the regional and global human longevity scientists and practitioners. Besides that, it also aims to demonstrate the vital role of understanding the mechanisms of aging and longevity and to extend healthy and productive human lifespan. The workshop will include several sessions and discussions on longevity, demography, genetic factors and others. We cordially invite academicians, researchers, scientists and interested parties to join this event in the serene campus of Bangi, Malaysia. We are also proud to inform you that 2007 is the official Visit Malaysia Year!

• 2007 Calorie Restriction Society Conference
• Sunset Station, San Antonio, TX, USA
• November 7-11, 2007