Project Morpheus is a new, test spacecraft being developed at
Johnson Space Center. In July a prototype of Morpheus was moved
from Houston to Kennedy Space Center for additional field
testing. After a tether test flight on August 3, and subsequent
testing, the Morpheus lander exploded during an experimental
flight today. You can see video right here. Morpheus features a
lot of experiment technology, including new green propellant
propulsion systems and autonomous landing and hazard detection
technology. With a budget of less than $7 million over 2.5 years
(pretty sure this does not include most labor), the Morpheus
project is considered lean and low-cost by NASA. Today’s crash
is a reminder that spaceflight remains a real challenge.
Morpheus’ propellant combination – liquid oxygen and methane –
is of particular interest because it can be stored for longer
times in space, compared to other common propellants such as
liquid hydrogen. It is also much cheaper to test and use than
other space fuels. Project Morphe