Aero Linx: 2009 Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander X CHALLENGE On November 5, 2009, the X PRIZE Foundation along with NASA hosted the NGLLXPC 2009 awards ceremony in Washington D.C. Masten Space Systems, led by David Masten, was awarded the top $1 million prize, while Armadillo Aerospace, led by id Software founder John Carmack took home the second place prize of $500,000. The NGLLXPC is a partnership with NASA funding the $2 million in prize money as part of their Centennial Challenges program while the X PRIZE Foundation managed the competition which began in 2006. The $2 million prize purse, with part of it already awarded to Armadillo Aerospace in 2008, is the largest incentivized prize awarded by the X PRIZE Foundation since the winni

Sun Synchronous Orbit A spacecraft orbit that precesses, wherein the location of periapsis changes with respect to the planet's surface so as to keep the periapsis location near the same local time on the planet each orbit. See walking orbit.

"This tells a slam-dunk story that water flowed through underground fractures in the rock. This stuff is a fairly pure chemical deposit that formed in place right where we see it. That can't be said for other gypsum seen on Mars or for other water-related minerals Opportunity has found. It's not uncommon on Earth, but on Mars, it's the kind of thing that makes geologists jump out of their chairs." Source: Steve Squyres of Cornell University, principal investigator for Opportunity, in comments made as NASA reported that its Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has found bright veins of a mineral, apparently gypsum, deposited by water. Analysis of the vein will help improve understanding of the history of wet environments on Mars.