NASA Launched Test Run of Morpheus Project on Wednesday

NASA's Morpheus Project is designed to serve as a vertical testbed (VTB) for advanced spacecraft technologies, which is likely to be a cost-effective integrated flight system. On Wednesday, the space agency conducted a test run of the prototype.

On Friday, NASA released imagery from Morpheus' test run on Wednesday night. Officials say that the prototype planetary lander is capable of landing unmanned spacecraft on harsh planetary terrain in the dark. The test run was conducted at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The test run consisted of several different steps prior to launch. The pad crew begins with the safety brief and rollout, followed by the pre-fill checkout of Morpheus' systems, then the propellant load, leak check, and final preparation. This process takes up an entire day prior to the nighttime launch.

The scientists kept a close eye on Morpheus' hazard detection system, which NASA is confident will eventually allow the spacecraft to conduct difficult deep-space missions.

"Assisted by three light detection and ranging (lidar) sensors, [Morpheus' hazard detection system] located obstacles-such as rocks and craters-and safely landed on the lunar-like hazard field a quarter mile away from the NASA Center. These new capabilities could be used in future efforts to deliver cargo to planetary surfaces," NASA said in this Time Magazine article.

Within the next decade and a half, NASA plans to visit a nearby asteroid as well as conduct missions to Mars. Various projects are underway to determine astronauts' health during prolonged deep-space missions, but they also need to figure out how to land spacecraft on rugged planetary surfaces (including both astronauts and cargo).

The Morpheus project aims to provide an "autonomous, reusable, rocket-powered, terrestrial vertical take-off/vertical landing vehicle for testing integrated spacecraft and planetary lander technologies," according to the Morpheus Lander profile. The project hopes to provide a way to help develop and demonstrate advanced technologies to access landing sites that were previously deemed too hazardous for robotic missions, and it hopes to do the same for human missions.

You can read more about the Morpheus Project on the NASA website.