Armadillo Aerospace in hibernation mode

Sad, but based upon what John says, I understand. I hope this is temporary..

http://www.newspacejournal.com/2013/08/ ... tion-mode/

Richard

That really stinks. Armadillo was one of the main reasons I joined this forum and decided to do my Senior project at MSUM on a (fictional) space tourism company.

Video: New Vista Space Adventures



Whatever happens, I hope Armadillo gets back on its feet soon!

I think the set-backs of the past few years just added up.

Things like losing the LLC after 'winning' it is hugely demoralising.

Having a vehicle like STIG crash is something most people can't identify with. Multiple crashes are devastating.

Good luck to the team.

This comes from John Carmack's keynote address at this year's QuakeCon. You can watch a rebroadcast of it here ( http://www.twitch.tv/bethesda/b/439369577 ). Skotch forward to 2 hours 5 minutes to see him discuss it.

Ouch. I guess the lack of any rocket-related comments on John's Twitter stream was kind of telling, but this is disappointing . Carmack sold Id to Bethesda a few years ago, probably to get more money available for building the Stig rockets. I guess that that money has run out now, with no working rocket. That sucks.

In a way, it was kind of coming. Id Software today isn't the powerhouse that it was back in the days of Quake and Doom. Artwork and game play were never the strongest points of Id's games, and the FPS market has become just one among many. Also, computers are now so powerful that the kind of brilliant hacks that Carmack made his name with are not necessary any more. The size of development teams for big titles has ballooned to hundreds, and most of those are artists. The technology is a much smaller part of a game now than it was in the nineties, and probably likewise relevance and paycheck of great programmers.

I do think there's some room for hope though. John's been working on mobile gaming and virtual reality head sets, both of which currently require clever low-level work and technology development, which is his forte. If he can get some technology developed, and Bethesda can make some successful games out of it and perhaps licence out the engine, they may just be able to give him a bonus nice enough to continue Armadillo. They really are very close to having that reusable sounding rocket...

Bad bad news, this is not the update i was waiting for. Well, if it turns out this is it for Armadillo still a big thanks for the all the enjoyable posts!

There is a whole army of 'retired Professionals' out there that would help volunteer given the opportunity to keep busy...not working 40+ hours but enough to keep busy and would do so without pay and in some cases, might even contribute expenses. This would keep Armadillo progressing AND make it easier than 'hibernation' since it would maintain some continuity when serious funding resumes.

Coming back from 'hibernation' I think would take more time and be costlier if hibernation lasted very long. I've know several things put in hibernation that were scrapped when tried to restart after a long time span.

another article on the demise of armadillo
http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/08/ ... e-support/

Well, whaddyaknow? John Carmack Joins Oculus as CTO. And from Twitter: "My time division is now Oculus over Id over Armadillo. Busy busy busy!"

First of all congratulations to John, because doing what you love is important and it looks like he's going to have some fun there. Also, if his compensation includes a share in the company, and it becomes successful and IPOs, then it could be a new source of funding for AA. Although if it happens, it's going to take a few years. Perhaps enough time to rekindle his interest in rockets? We can dream...

Since the other thread got "slightly" derailed, I think we should stay on topic on this one!

Found something interesting a few minutes ago: the Project Morpheus Facebook team just shared a link to this story:
http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2013/08/12/nort ... ce-lander/

It really isn't very specific about anything, but one sentence stands out:

Anybody in the know who can confirm that?

"Anybody in the know who can confirm that?"

It was definitely a reference to the previous work we did with NASA. There is currently nothing going on at AA. The guys (Russ, Phil and Neil) are trying to drum up some business, but until then AA is hibernating.

I have been offline because I was just burned out pretty much. I will try and answer questions if I can, when I can...

James

Thank you for your answer James, very much appreciated!

I'm sad. And worried. What AA has as a business isn't it's rockets. It the mindshare of the people who have built the rockets. If the people who have made the rockets go away, and AA tries to reconstitute... well, there are rocket plans on paper (presumably), but no one around who can explain how they go together, or more importantly why they are the way they are.

While building rockets isn't as hard as "rocket science" any more, it still ain't as easy as microwaving a burrito. I'm worried that the guy's I've been following for near a decade are going to disburse, leaving AA essentially a worthless husk.

Sorry to hear this, but it is what it is. Not everyone can succeed in a new industry. Good luck with any future endeavors :)

A hard lesson for me was that having technical ability doesn't guarantee a successful business. Running a business requires a good head for business.