NASA's Morpheus Lander Learns To Land With Methane Powered Rockets

While the 'Curiosity' is currently resting in peace on the distant red planet, a team of researchers at NASA is getting the future planet landing systems ready. The team demonstrated the prototype of 'Morpheus Lander' at Kennedy Space Center by putting it to the 'tether test' (video available below). Named after ancient Greek God of dreams, the Morpheus Lander is unique in many terms. It's designed to land on the outer planets by detecting the obstacles and making decisions on its own.



But what sets the Morpheus Lander apart is the use of Methane rockets for landing. Methane offers lot of desirable features for the space missions. Methane is not only cheaper, but it can also be stored for longer durations. The Curiosity, for example, took 8 months to reach to the Mars. The International Space Station (ISS) disposes enough Methane Gas every year to fill Morpheus' fuel tanks. It also uses Liquid Oxygen - which can be produced from the dust on Moon's surface.

The autonomous systems installed on Morpheus Lander allow it to navigate on its own and it can avoid surface hazards with its sensor-rich Autonomous Landing and Hazard Avoidance System (ALHAT).



We can already imagine humans settling on the moon.

Via: NASA - #-Link-Snipped-#