Project Morpheus

Project Morpheus

Logo of Project Morpheus
Country of origin	USA
Last flight	December 15, 2014
Designer	NASA
Manufacturer	NASA/JSC
Application	Planetary and lunar lander
Status	Completed
Liquid-fuel engine
Propellant	liquid oxygen / methane
Performance
Thrust	24000 N
Specific impulse	321 s
Burn time	tested: 123 s
Used in
Morpheus Lander
References
References	morpheuslander.jsc.nasa.gov

Project Morpheus is a NASA project to develop a vertical takeoff and vertical landing (VTVL) test vehicle called Morpheus Lander in order to demonstrate a new nontoxic spacecraft propellant system (methane and oxygen) and an autonomous landing and hazard detection technology. The prototype planetary lander is capable of autonomous flight, including vertical takeoff and landings. The vehicles are NASA-designed robotic landers that will be able to land and take off with 1,100 pounds (500 kg) of cargo on the Moon. The prospect is an engine that runs reliably on propellants that are not only cheaper and safer here on Earth, but could also be potentially manufactured on the Moon or Mars. (See: In-situ resource utilization.)

The Alpha prototype lander was manufactured and assembled at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) and Armadillo Aerospace's facility near Dallas. The prototype lander is a "spacecraft" that is about 12 ft (3.7 m) in diameter, weighs approximately 2,400 lb (1,100 kg) and consists of four silver spherical propellant tanks topped by avionics boxes and a web of wires.

The project is trying out cost and time saving "lean development" engineering practices. Other project activities include appropriate ground operations, flight operations, range safety and the instigation of software development procedures. Landing pads and control centers were also constructed. From the project start in July 2010, about $14 million was spent on materials in the following 4 years; so the Morpheus project is considered lean and low-cost for NASA. In 2012 the project employed 25 full-time team members, and 60 students. At any one time an average of 40 people worked on the project. Project Morpheus devised and used streamlined processes and practices. The Morpheus Lander's last flight was in December 2014. As there were no funds for further flights the lander was returned to JSC in February 2015. Six formal documents were produced by the project. At the end of project review on March 12, 2015 it was estimated that $50 million had been saved by the lean development methods, minimising documentation, 'Beg and Borrowing' items and buying parts from home depot shops.

Project Morpheus started in July 2010 and was named after Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams. The Morpheus spacecraft was derived from the experimental lander produced by Project M with the assistance of Armadillo Aerospace. Project M (NASA) was a NASA initiative to design, develop and land a humanoid robot on the lunar surface in 1000 days. Work on some of the landers systems began in 2006, when NASA's Constellation program planned a human return to the Moon.