Morpheus is the vertical take off and landing test bed vehicle being developed by NASA. The project hopes to design robotic landers which are capable of taking cargo weighing 500 kilo grams to the moon. It incorporates new green propellant propulsion systems along with an autonomous landing and hazard detection technology.

The tests so far have ended in some rather spectacular fiery crashes. Although in December 2013, they finally did manage to complete an explosion free test flight. The 54 second test flight took place at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility. Morpheus was launched from the ground over a flame trench and ascended approximately 50 feet.

The Morpheus lander then hovered for 15 seconds before completing a landing on its pad about 23 feet away from the launching area. the distance and time may not seem very impressive, but they are proof of success for NASA. The project is trying out cost and time saving “lean development” engineering practices.

While the current Morpheus lander is considering taking merely 500 kilograms to the moon, the scientists associated with the project are hoping to scale it up over time to a degree where they can land an entire habitat complete with crew on to the moon. Its early days as yet in this exciting science project and a whole lot of experimentation is yet to come.