Momentum is picking up for the roaring start of the Wirefly X Prize Cup here in Las Cruces, New Mexico.For example, lots of hurried, last minute hub bub-crossing the i’s and dotting the t’s-in getting the Cup’s Lunar Lander Challenge underway later this week.Final paperwork from the Federal Aviation Administration’s space office on letting Armadillo’s vertical takeoff and vertical lander shoot through the sky is being processed.Masten Space Systems, Inc. has announced it will no longer try to pursue the Lunar Lander Challenge this year.

“Over the last couple of months we have been working on issues where theory and reality did not quite meet up. We have all those issues just about wrapped up and will be doing a flight test readiness review-and if all is well-begin flight tests, the week after the X Prize Cup,” according to David Masten, head of the group.

Masten said they will be bringing their XA-0.1 test vehicle for display…perhaps revving up the hardware if possible.

Meanwhile, out at Spaceport America in New Mexico, the report on what went wrong with the UP Aerospace suborbital rocket flight on September 25 appears wrapped up and is likely to be released soon.

Among the payloads the rocket carried was a package of instruments-a flight computer and variety of sensors-built by New Mexico State University. On the rocket’s impact, the payload was squashed to a fraction of its original size.

“It’s about three fingers high now,” explained Stephen Horan, head of the Klipsch School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at New Mexico State University.