When we last left John Carmack and his rocketeers of Armadillo Aerospace from Texas they were delayed at the state line. The good news is that they’ve arrived rocket hardware and all in New Mexico for the Wirefly X Prize Cup.

Armadillo is a key figure in the Lunar Lander Challenge sponsored by NASA with major dollar prizes.

The bad news was that yesterday heavy rains soaked the area…so a bit messy out there at the Las Cruces International Airport - site of the Cup.

Today, a beautiful day here so displays, rockets, and Cup festival hardware should be ready for final run through prior to the Cup’s opening day tomorrow.

Meanwhile, lots of buzz about UP Aerospace getting back in the air before year’s end. Their suborbital rocket went wild at high altitude, falling way short of suborbital space, hitting the ground at high speed and wrecking payloads.

The rocket was the first liftoff from New Mexico’s Spaceport America property.

Rumor of the day is that something inside the payload compartment may have jarred loose - causing a center of gravity problem making the rocket wobble out of control. 

A full investigation is underway, but there’s talk of a “stealth” flight of the rocket to make sure all is well with the UP Aerospace hardware.