Another John Carmack rocket explodes

Author: Joe Martin
Published: 31st October 2007

Don't worry, John Carmack won't be leaving Earth any time soon.

John Carmack is a lot of things - an ace programmer, one of the few well known figures in PC game design and also an astronaut wanna-be. The man behind the Doom, Quake and Wolfenstein games has long been interested in spacecraft and has founded his own company, Armadillo Aerospace, to try and put the worlds first independant spaceship on the moon.

His attempts have been well documented - mainly because they usually result in large explosions and everyone gently poking fun at the bespectacled coder. Today is no exception.

Armadillo Aerospace recently partook in the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge and tried to get a modular class rocket into space and landed on the moon. The effort was part of a special event organised by X-prize.

Unfortunately, the rocket never really got going. It did make it off the ground just about, but an engine explosion kept it from getting anywhere near the target.

Luckily nobody was hurt in the explosion and Carmack will soon be behind his desk again, tapping out some fresh code for Rage, the new game from id Software. The explosion probably won't discourage Carmack much either - he's been trying to get off planet Earth for a while now and this isn't going to phase his efforts.

Want to poke fun at Carmack or just want to wish him good luck next time? Do it in the forums!