NASA demonstrates the moon lander Morpheus

Morpheus was designed by NASA to bring goods to the Moon and elsewhere in the universe. It can carry nearly 500kg of goods such as astronauts, robots, small labs .

>>>Video: Demonstration of the moon landing ship Morpheus

In 2010, NASA launched the project Morpheus (named after the god of dreams in Greek mythology) designed as a prototype landing vehicle. Morpheous is Project M's successor project - a research project to bring human-shaped robots back to the moon.

Picture 1 of NASA demonstrates the moon lander Morpheus

After 1 year of research, in 2011 NASA experimented with flying the first Morpheus (connected to the ground). Morpheus's 19,000N engine allows NASA to place larger and larger devices on this lander.

Morpheus' most important goal is to be able to land automatically, without the help of pilots like the previous generation of aircraft - Quad (aka Pixel ). According to NASA's design, Morpheus will be able to automatically avoid obstacles on the ground, autopilot and control, and will also use an extremely environmentally friendly fuel: umbrella mix- Liquid cyanide and liquid methane.

Picture 2 of NASA demonstrates the moon lander Morpheus
Morpheus in 2011

In July 2012, the Morpheus test sample was sent to Kennedy Space Center for flight testing. On September 8, 2012, the Morpheus model tested with the number # 1 Unit Alpha was exploded while taking off. No damage to humans, but Alpha was badly damaged.

Picture 3 of NASA demonstrates the moon lander Morpheus
The accident of Morpheus in 2012

During the following period, NASA continuously brought Morpheus many important improvements. By spring 2013, Morpheus was able to fly at an altitude of 800m. On December 10, 2013, NASA announced a video showing Morpheus can now fly "freely" at the Kennedy Center.

In the future, NASA said it would try to lift Morpheus' capacity to 500kg, allowing a small laboratory and an astronaut to the Moon or an extraterrestrial planet.