The Rocket Man

The programming genius behind Doom and Quake has his sights on a new target��62.5 miles high. Id Software��s John Carmack is leading a team known as Armadillo Aerospace that is competing for the $10 million X Prize. The payoff goes to the first civilian group that can launch three people 100 kilometers from Earth, return them safely, and do it again in two weeks.

It��s a mighty tall order, but Carmack happens to be a mighty smart guy. And he��s been a rocket nut for a long time.

��I can trace back my interest in space to the end of the development of Quake,�� he says. ��I borrowed a bunch of Robert Heinlein books. A year later, I started reading everything I could about space travel. Now I��m building what amounts to the world��s biggest roller coaster. It��s exciting, challenging, and things are going well. We��ve got the full-sized X Prize vehicle built. We��re just waiting to decide which engine to use. The only problems now: industrial manufacturers worrying about liabilities. When they hear we��re building a rocket ship, they think, ��What if it goes out of control and hits a school bus full of nuns?����

Copyright © 2003 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in Computer Gaming World.