Morpheus Prototype Uses Hazard Detection System to Land Safely in Night Test - Video

Image Credit: NASA/Mike Chambers

NASA demonstrated that it can land an unmanned spacecraft on a rugged planetary surface in the pitch dark in a May 28, 2014 free-flight test of the Morpheus prototype lander and Autonomous Landing Hazard Avoidance Technology (ALHAT).

The 98-second test began at 10:02 p.m. EDT, with the Morpheus lander launching from the ground over a flame trench and ascending more than 800 feet (244 m) into the dark Florida sky at Kennedy Space Center using only ALHAT's Hazard Detection System for guidance.

The Hazard Detection System, assisted by three light detection and ranging (lidar) sensors, located obstacles -- such as rocks and craters -- and safely landed on the lunar-like hazard field a quarter mile away from the NASA Center.


Project Morpheus tests NASA’s ALHAT and an engine that runs on liquid oxygen and methane, which are green propellants.

These new capabilities could be used in future efforts to deliver cargo to planetary surfaces. The landing facility provides the lander with the kind of field necessary for realistic testing, complete with rocks, craters and hazards to avoid.

Morpheus’ ALHAT payload allows it to navigate to clear landing sites amidst rocks, craters and other hazards during its descent.

Project Morpheus is being managed under the Advanced Exploration Systems (AES), Division in NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate.

The efforts in AES pioneer new approaches for rapidly developing prototype systems, demonstrating key capabilities and validating operational concepts for future human missions beyond Earth orbit.

NASA's Morpheus Lander: Prototype Touches Down on Mock Moonscape - Video

A prototype of NASA's Morpheus lander kicked up a cloud of fake moon dust as it touched down softly on a mock lunar landscape in Florida in this week.

On Wednesday (April 30), the Morpheus vehicle dubbed Bravo lifted off for its twelfth free-flight test at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

The robotic vehicle flew a pre-programmed path that launched it vertically, and then rose to an altitude of more than 800 feet (243 meters), NASA officials said in a description of a video of the mock moonscape flight.

After liftoff, Morpheus then flew sideways 1,300 feet (396 m), hovering over a 65-yard (59 m) square sandbox full of obstacles like rocks and craters.

NASA's Morpheus vehicle prototype is seen just after landing on a mock lunar surface during in this still from a NASA video recording at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida during an April 30, 2014 test flight.

Credit: NASA /Project Morpheus

NASA recently started testing its automated landing and hazard avoidance technology (ALHAT) installed on the vehicle.

This 400-pound suite of computers and three instruments is designed to scan the surface of a potential landing site for hazards, such as a dangerous boulder or crater, so that the spacecraft doesn't crash or tip over as it touches down.

The ALHAT technology mapped the square and identified a safe landing site 4.5 feet (1.4 m) east of the center of the landing pad and targeted that location to gently touch down on the mock lunar surface, NASA officials said.

Chirold Epp

"We've been working a long time, eight years, to prove we can do autonomous, precision landing and hazard avoidance and guidance," Chirold Epp, project manager for ALHAT, said in a NASA statement a week before the latest flight.

"We really need to show the world that everything we've been advertising for eight years works."

NASA Morpheus FF9 Test: Morpheus flies higher and farther than ever - Video

The Morpheus team successfully completed Free Flight 9 (FF9) at the KSC SLF on Tuesday, March 11, 2014. 

This was the final flight before integration of ALHAT sensors on Bravo vehicle. FF9 was Morpheus' highest (177 m = 581 ft, higher than the VAB & Washington Monument), fastest (13.4 m/s = 30 mph vertical & horizontal) and farthest (255 m = 837 ft) flight to date.

Credit: NASA Morpheus Lander

NASA's Project Morpheus nailed it again today with yet another successful free flight of their prototype lander, soaring higher, faster, and farther than ever before.

The FF9 test, which occurred at 3:41 p.m. EDT at Kennedy Space Center, saw the 2,300-lb (1000-kg) Morpheus craft rise to a height of 580 feet (177 meters) and travel 837 feet (255 m) downrange at 30 mph (48 km/h).

After the 85-second flight the craft set down almost exactly on target—only about a foot (.3 m) off.During today's test flight the oxygen-and-methane-propelled Morpheus could have cleared the Washington Monument.

The next step is to integrate the Autonomous Landing and Hazard Avoidance Technology (ALHAT) sensors, which allow the craft to identify dangerous terrain and determine the best route to a safe landing, all by itself.

This capability will be invaluable for future landings on unexplored surfaces on the Moon and Mars.

"It's never been done," said Dr. Jon Olansen, project manager of the Morpheus Project, in 2012. "We've never landed of the moon or Mars with real-time hazard detection and avoidance."

"Most of the Mars missions use air bags. They go where they go, they roll them and they stop… whatever comes, comes."

Project Morpheus: Engine Test Firing

The Project Morpheus prototype lander’s engine blasts and smoke pours out during a tether test on Dec. 6, 2013, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 

During the test, a crane lifted the lander 20 feet, then it ascended another 10 feet. 

The lander was scheduled to have maneuvered backwards 10 feet, and then flown forward and descended to its original position, landing at the end of the tether onto a transportable launch platform. 

Morpheus utilizes an autonomous landing and hazard avoidance technology (ALHAT), payload permitting it to obtain clear landing sites on its own, for future exploration beyond earth orbit.