Barring one
notable and very explosive exception,
the project has been going quite well, with the lander making a long
series of increasingly more complex atmospheric flights at Kennedy Space
Center. The video below shows the entirety of Free Flight 8, which
included a simulated hazard avoidance maneuver over an equally simulated
planetary surface, that resulted in the lander touching down a mere ten
inches from its target after traveling over 600 feet. This is nothing
compared to the distance from Florida to the Moon, but the Morpheus team
is working up to that: today, Free Flight 9 will take the lander
higher, faster, and farther. And sooner or later, the Moon will be in
range.Every day, DVICE selects fresh images, videos and more from the wonderful world of technology.