NASA prototype lander explodes in test flight

(SPACE.com) An experimental, "green" NASA lander crashed during its first free-flight test today (Aug. 9), erupting in a ball of flame when it hit the ground.

The unmanned Morpheus lander, which could one day deliver payloads to the moon or other solar system bodies, barely got off the pad around 12:40 p.m. EDT (1640 GMT) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida before toppling over and exploding.

"During today's free-flight test of the Project Morpheus vehicle, it lifted off the ground and then experienced a hardware component failure, which prevented it from maintaining stable flight," NASA officials said in a statement. "No one was injured, and the resulting fire was extinguished by KSC fire personnel."

"Engineers are looking into the incident, and the agency will release information as it becomes available," the statement added.

The Morpheus lander is powered by liquid oxygen and methane propellants, which are safer and cheaper to operate than traditional fuels and can be stored for longer periods in space, NASA officials say. Morpheus is also testing out automated landing-hazard avoidance technology, which would use lasers to spot dangerous boulders or craters on the surface of another world.

Prior to today's free-flight test, the experimental lander was tested in a series of tethered flights at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, as well as one at KSC last Friday (Aug. 3). The Johnson center oversees the project.

The Morpheus lander could deliver about 1,100 pounds (500 kilograms) of cargo to the moon, NASA officials say.

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• Photos: NASA's Project Morpheus Robot Lander
• NASA's Morpheus Lander Tests: Behind the Scenes
• Gallery: Google Lunar X-Prize Teams

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[bobnjersey]

["During today's free-flight test of the Project Morpheus vehicle, it lifted off the ground and then experienced a hardware component failure, which prevented it from maintaining stable flight," ]
---------------------------
"there is no failure except in no longer trying." - elbert hubbard

[imnho]

It crashed because of the matrix.

[Ulgnud]

OOPS. It did liftoff nicely though.

[Ulgnud]

OOPS. It did liftoff nicely though.

[Ulgnud]

Sorry for the duplicate. I only posted it once.

[randomites]

I hate when that happens.

[rwsmith29456]

This lander flies like something I put together in my garage.

[erickson5150]

"I know high school kids that can build a better lander."

No you don't.

[Elcorobert]

I've also made a little search and found this complete 15-minute video where all the moments of Morpheus crash are shown. The explosion is at minute 2:00. Curiously, the firefighters wait the whole 7 minutes (until the minute 9:00) to start their work, creating a lake of foam:
http://www.nublobits.com/?v=-hvlG2JtMts&n=Morpheus-lander-first-free-flight-and-failure-in-HD

[John782011]

Since there were no humans to rescue, the firefighters stood back long enough to ensure there were no secondary explosions of fuel. Better safe than sorry.

[nousernametaken]

Greener? LMFAO. Like I care about emissions on Mars or the Moon. I know high school kids that can build a better lander. Better let a private company take over this.

[enlightenu]

"greener" refers to the manufacturing process and byproducts.

[Machipongo_John]

Do I hear you volunteering your capital on something unlikely to make the big bucks? No? Then shaddup.