Morpheus, NASA, USA

[Airicist]

Project Morpheus Free Flight 10

Published on Apr 4, 2014

The Morpheus team successfully completed Free Flight 10 (FF10) the KSC SLF on Wednesday, April 2, 2014. This was the first free flight with ALHAT running in open-loop mode, imaging the Hazard Field and calculating navigation solutions in real time during flight, though not yet navigating the vehicle, i.e., Bravo GNC flew a pre-programmed trajectory as before.

Morpheus ascended to a max altitude of about 804 feet (245m), then flew forward and downward initially at a 30 degree glideslope, then leveling out some, covering a total of about 1334 feet (406.5m) horizontally in 50 seconds while diverting to a landing site location 78 feet (23.8m) from its initial target, before descending and landing on a dedicated landing pad at the front (south) of the ALHAT Hazard Field. The total flight time was ~96 sec, the longest flight to date.

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[Airicist]

Morpheus Free Flight 13

Published on May 22, 2014

The Morpheus/ALHAT team completed Free Flight 13 (FF13) at the KSC SLF on Thursday, May 22, 2014. This was Bravo's 11th and ALHAT's 4th free flight; the 1st with ALHAT running in closed-loop mode. For this test initial data indicated nominal performance of all Bravo systems, and of ALHAT Hazard Detection System (HDS), though not of the ALHAT navigation system. During flight, the ALHAT HDS scanned the Hazard Field and correctly identified a primary safe landing target within 0.5 m of the landing pad center, the best HDS safe site selection to date. As ALHAT navigated Bravo toward the selected landing target, the vehicle position calculated by ALHAT diverged from the "true" position calculated by Morpheus Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC) until the error reached a trajectory corridor limit, at which point Bravo automatically reverted to Morpheus navigation for the remainder of the descent to the ALHAT landing target. Thus, FF13 successfully demonstrated ALHAT HDS performance and landing site selection (as in FF12), as well as the first in-flight down-mode from ALHAT to Morpheus navigation, but not yet complete ALHAT navigation to the landing site.

[Airicist]

Project Morpheus Free Flight 14

Published on May 29, 2014

The Morpheus/ALHAT team successfully completed Free Flight 14 (FF14) at the KSC SLF on Wednesday, May 28, 2014, Bravo's 12th and ALHAT's 5th free flight -- and the first ever night flight. Initial data indicated nominal performance of all vehicle systems. The ALHAT Hazard Detection System (HDS) performed well, but identified a safe site just 0.5 m outside the conservatively established limits around the center of the landing pad. ALHAT then navigated the vehicle in closed-loop mode through the entire approach, with the vehicle taking over navigation during the descent phase of the trajectory when ALHAT was already dead-reckoning. Had less conservative position error limits allowed ALHAT to continue to navigate to landing, the vehicle still would have landed safely on the pad.

The team overcame a few preflight issues, including a failed ignition due to a non-critical temperature limit exceedance, which was corrected for the successful second attempt.

[Airicist]

Morpheus Completes Fifth Free-Flight

Published on Feb 10, 2014

The fifth free-flight test of a Morpheus prototype lander was conducted Feb. 10, 2014, at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility. The 74-second test began around 1 p.m. EST with the Morpheus lander launching from the ground over a flame trench and ascending at 42 feet per second to 467 feet, more than 160 feet higher than its last test. Morpheus then flew forward, covering 637 feet in 30 seconds before descending and landing on a dedicated pad inside the automated landing and hazard avoidance technology (ALHAT) hazard field. Morpheus landed on target. There is one more test planned before the ALHAT system is installed on the vehicle, but the date of that flight has not yet been set. Morpheus tests NASA's automated landing and hazard avoidance technology and an engine that runs on liquid oxygen and methane, or "green" propellants.

[Airicist]

Project Morpheus Free Flight 8

Published on Mar 5, 2014

The multi-center Morpheus Team successfully completed Free Flight8 (FF8) at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) on Wednesday, March 5th, 2014. FF8, the 6th free flight of the Bravo vehicle, flew to 467 feet (142m), altitude and then traversed 637 feet (194m) in 36 seconds, including diverting course mid-flight, before landing in the hazard field 56 feet (17m) from its original target (simulating hazard avoidance). Initial data indicates a nominal flight meeting all test objectives. The vehicle flew its pre-planned trajectory flawlessly, as the attached images comparing actual to predicted trajectory shows, reaching a max ascent velocity of 13 m/s, and landing approximately 10in from its intended target 79 seconds after launch. The Morpheus Team again demonstrated engineering and operational excellence, relying upon training, discipline and experience to ensure today's success.

[Airicist]

Morpheus Completes Free Flight

Published on Mar 11, 2014

A free flight test of a Morpheus prototype lander was conducted on March 11, 2014 at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility. The 83-second test began at 3:41 p.m. EDT with the Morpheus lander launching from the ground over a flame trench. It ascended to 580 feet, its highest to date -- higher than the Washington Monument -- at a rate of 30 mph, its fastest ascent speed yet. Morpheus then flew its fastest downrange trek at 30 mph, travelling farther than before, 837 feet. The lander performed a 42-foot divert to emulate a hazard avoidance maneuver before descending and touching down on Landing Site 2, a the northern landing pad inside the automated landing and hazard avoidance technology (ALHAT) hazard field. Morpheus touched down about one foot from its intended target.

Project Morpheus tests NASA's automated landing and hazard avoidance technology and an engine that runs on liquid oxygen and methane, or "green" propellants. These new capabilities could be used in future efforts to deliver cargo to planetary surfaces. Morpheus and ALHAT are examples of the partnerships that exist within the agency since seven of the 10 NASA centers have contributed time, energy and resources to both.