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NASA's Morpheus lander skips the inferno, actually lands (video)
The last time NASA's methane-fueled Morpheus lander took to the skies without training wheels (read: a tether), it didn't go too well. Unless crashing and burning was the plan all along, that is. The Morpheus team have been beavering away since that incident over a year ago, and in a recent test at the Kennedy Space Center, have shown the craft is, in fact, capable of landing. While the video proof doesn't feature much drama and spectacle as a result, we guess it means Morpheus can at least begin setting its sights on locations slightly more exotic than a Florida car park.
Morpheus lander crashes, burns and explodes in untethered flight test, NASA remains optimistic (video)
As noisy as we found Project Morpheus' tethered flight test, its untethered follow-up was far, far louder. Yesterday, the experimental lander suffered a hardware component failure, which NASA says "prevented it from maintaining stable flight." This caused it to crash into the ground and well, explode. On the upside, the space agency says that these kinds of failures were anticipated, stating that they are a normal part of the development process and will be used to build better systems moving forward. You didn't think Curiosity made its touchdown on Mars without learning from a few mistakes, did you? Click onwards to check out the test -- and its aftermath -- in 5, 4, 3, 2, er...
NASA's Morpheus lander detects hazards, noisily passes tethered flight test (video)
While it's not landing on Mars any time soon, NASA took a breather from Curiosity's adventures to showcase the Morpheus Lander. The prototype went through its first (tethered) flight test at the Kennedy Space Center just before the weekend, showcasing its methane-powered rocket system. It's this rocket setup which could make the Morpheus Lander a strong candidate for future landings. It's both safer than rocket fuel and NASA suggests that methane gas discarded from the International Space Station could be enough to top up the lander's fuel tanks without necessitating a visit back to Earth. Morpheus' built-in guidance system also reduces the amount of input needed from mission control -- the pod has been practicing hard on its own hazard field near the Space Center. After passing the test with its training wheels on, the first free flight descent has been tentatively penned in for later today. Crank the volume low -- it gets loud -- and watch Morpheus test those right rockets after the break.
