This popped up just before the holidays: Haas, ARCA’s Lunar Orbital Rocket Launcher Unveiled Today .
The "Today" portion of the headline no longer applies, but the rocket is still freshly awesome. ARCA is the Romanian team competing for the Lunar X Prize and they plan on lifting this bad boy 18km up by balloon before launch. I’d love to know more about the story behind this oddly beautiful design, but I can’t get the brochure to download properly. Check out the gallery to appreciate the grandeur of the Haas. Or, take a look at my feeble rocketlol:
Launching from a balloon isn’t a new idea , of course, but it should work. As a jingoistic SOB, I hope an American team wins. As a CMU graduate, I hope Red Whittaker’s team, Astrobotic , makes it. As a human, however, I’m pulling for everybody.
Best of luck, ARCA!
