Did Ask for a Photo?

Yes, it's unfinished there and the tanks are not in their proper positions. However, we've had requests for pix, soooo....we'll tease with one.

Oh yes. We were interviewed as part of a piece for one of our sponsors. We'll see if the WSJ keeps our part. Or not. We were rather more photogenic (well, the rocket was) than many of the others interviewed.

The Race to Raise Cash

While Team Phoenicia has been very successful in relative terms for getting in-kind sponsorships - that is to say a vendor contributing their product in exchange for promoting them - we have had a lot of tough times getting enough outright cash. We've had some help via paypal, but the vast majority of cash expenditures have been out of the team leader's own pocket.

Team Phoenicia hasn't exactly been on the shoestring, but we've also emphatically not been swimming in cash. Each purchase has had to be weighed and carefully. A lot of times, 'good enough' - or so we think - components have been substituted for the ones we want.

This year the X Prize Foundation raised the bar for how much it costs to get into the LLC. They had pretty good reasons and its kept a lot of people out that have been working on the shoestring. However, it may be that it'll keep us out. No matter what, we'll fly. Our goal is to demonstrate the capability so we can get backing for the Google Lunar X Prize. And immortality.

However, we of Team Phoenicia are a tenacious lot. We're not ready to give up on getting into the LLC. To that end, in order to raise the cash to participate in the LLC, we are offering individuals or groups that wish to see their name on the rockets. Namely, we are offering up the center RP-1 tanks - one per rocket - to get tank tattoos by anyone for any logo or wording or picture or even just their name.

We do reserve the right to exercise a discretionary veto. However, we're pretty flexible folks and most messages will probably be acceptable. Anyone that buys the tank tattoo will get their money back if we veto what they want to say.

We had about 7850 square centimeters up for sale. We have already sold 11 sq cm of that. We are charging $10/sq cm. There are additional charges for more optimal placing. Otherwise, it will be a first come, first serve ad-cloud.

To get this, just hit the donate button on the side. If all you want is your name, you do not have to do anything more. If you wish to have a specific message within your space, a company logo, or a picture, you will have to do the above, but you will also need to email contact at team phoenicia dt org: if you don't contribute, you won't get noticed for a special request. We get a silly amount of spam there and if we are not looking for you, we will regard your message with suspicion.

First pix are coming nex week. Assuming the Team Leader's Baby doesn't first.

That said, we'd like to thank Carlos Yu, Lisa Geoffrion, Tom Palmer, and Marilee Layman for their purchases.

(it'll be clearer than that, promise, the sections will be distinct)

Three Projects Really

Paul Breed of Unreasonable Rocket, we think at the SAS09, stated that building your rocket was not enough, that there was a whole separate and equally (if not more so) project of coding to make sure everything works as it should, when it should, where it should. Let's just say, we completely agreed. Those rackin, frackin little COMs...

*starts strangling a computer...*

Ahem.

Pardon me.

We absolutely agree with Paul. Yet we disagree. There are actually three projects involved here.

The first acknowledged is building the rocket. We have assembled The Wind at Dawn, are nearing so with The Pale Glow of the Stars, and we are manufacturing The Bright Flash of Chicxulub. Aluminum is your friend. Stainless steel is your sadistic bully in grade school.

The second is the coding. Even on a single rocket, if you shift things, as happens when you are working with a mock-up/prototype, you have to rework bits of the code to make sure everything stays in balance when you fire. Especially with our design.

There is still a third project though. This predates the others and is ongoing until the project is finished. This one is funding the whole endeavor. Team Phoenicia has been chasing down sponsors with a large club for a while now. We have been extraordinarily lucky. Or just plain persistent.

We have been asked by other people, sometimes from other teams and sometimes from people in other competitions, how we have been able to get so many sponsors. The truth of the matter is that we have been pounding the pavement for some time. Seeking sponsorship isn't for the faint of heart or those without endurance. You have to keep knocking on doors, asking people, and networking to get what you need. You seriously wear out your shoes. Proverbially or real. And sometimes you even suffer from burnout.

In truth, Team Phoenicia has had about a 5% success rate. For every sponsor you see on the side, we have had around 20 turn us down. 20 presentations. With 10 man-hours of work for each one. On average. Some more, some less. For each sponsor, we've invested around 210 man-hours. For our total sponsorship, that's almost 1500 man-hours.

That is a project in and of itself.

Whether it's enough, we'll see.

New Sponsor: AirGas

We are proud to announce that AirGas has become a sponsor for Team Phoenicia in the Lunar Lander Challenge. AirGas, the largest U.S. distributor of industrial, medical, and specialty gases and related hardgoods, is sponsoring Team Phoenicia by providing all of the liquid oxygen (LOX) and helium that the team needs for thorough testing and participation in the LLC. Team Phoenicia's rocket design, The Wind at Dawn, uses kerosene and LOX for its propellant combination. Without AirGas' sponsorship, Team Phoenicia would be unable to do nearly as thorough a test program as will now be possible. This greatly increases our chances of winning the Lunar Lander Challenge.

Both AirGas and Team Phoenicia are both very excited by the prospects this partnership brings. This is a tremendous sponsorship and Team Phoenicia is deeply grateful!

Now a word about our sponsor:

Airgas, Inc.(NYSE: ARG), through its subsidiaries, is the largest U.S. distributor of industrial, medical, and specialty gases and related hardgoods, such as welding supplies. Airgas is also a leading U.S. distributor of safety products, the largest U.S. producer of nitrous oxide and dry ice, the largest liquid carbon dioxide producer in the Southeast, and a leading distributor of process chemicals, refrigerants and ammonia products.

Airgas Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Peter McCausland founded the company in 1982. Through more than 350 acquisitions and internal growth, Airgas has built the largest national distribution network in the packaged gas industry. More than 14,000 employees work in more than 1,100 locations includes branches, cylinder fill plants, production facilities, specialty gas laboratories, and regional distribution centers to serve a diversified customer base. Airgas markets through multiple channels, including its own branches and outside sales force, a Strategic Accounts Team focused on large customers, distributors and resellers, telesales, catalog and eBusiness channels.

Blowing Away the Dust

There has been a lot going on at Team Phoenicia since we last posted.

We have added team members.

We have added more sponsors.

We have bent metal.

We are set.

We will be flying and quite soon.

Over the next month we will be putting up a lot of blog posts. Today we will be starting with one of our new sponsors.

The X Prize Foundation's LLC 2009 Statement

Moving forward, the concept of conducting a large common event at which all teams fly their vehicles is likely not financially sustainable for the Foundation. Additionally, the conduct of such an event imposes non-negligible expenses on our teams, who must not only transport themselves and their vehicles to the venue for the competition, but who also must complete their design process, their regulatory paperwork, and their procurement of insurance with not only their own "home facility" but also the competition venue in mind. As such, the fairest and most sustainable model may prove to be one where each team plays host to a crew of Judges and X PRIZE personnel at a facility of their choice.

Although the date of October is not written into the rules, we understand that there is an expectation among our teams that future attempts to win the prize will occur late in each calendar year. Accordingly, the X PRIZE Foundation is committed to providing all teams a reasonable amount of time to prepare for the 2009 contest, and to adjust to any changes made to the way the prize is offered.

The X PRIZE Foundation is committed to conducting the 2009 LLC in the fairest manner possible. The X PRIZE Foundation assures teams that all key decisions with regard to the timing, structure, and judging of this competition will be done in an open and fair manner by individuals with no conflicts of interest. As such, all final decisions about the 2009 event will be made by the Foundation's Senior Director for Space Projects, William Pomerantz, and Vice President for Prize Management, Cristin Lindsay, neither of whom have any financial relationship with any of the LLC teams. Additionally, any final decision will be made in conjunction with our partners at NASA. All X PRIZE and Judging staff who have an affiliation with any team, including secondary affiliations through financial investment in institutions who have business relationships with a team, will be recused from key decisions through the lifetime of the competition.

We look forward to working with all of our teams, and wish them all the best of luck as they pursue the remaining $1.65MM in prize money available as part of the Lunar Lander Challenge.

We look forward to working with the X Prize Foundation and will be watching for what the changes to the LLC will be. Will has always been a good guy to work with.