Morpheus Lunar Vehicle Could be Next to Walk and Glide Over Moon

by Alex A. Kecskes

It's been almost four decades since Americans walked the lunar surface. That could change as our space efforts become increasingly privatized.

Driving the effort is a group of NASA engineers who are itching for an American return trip. They've overcome Obama's massive budget cuts, uncovered funding in other R&D projects, and teamed up with an aerospace startup to build a new lunar landing craft.

Known as Morpheus, the fully functioning lunar lander would be used for the last stages of a touchdown on the moon. The agile craft is designed to fly 1 mile up, and coast 1 mile over the lunar surface.

A test run that took place on May 4th evaluated Morpheus' ability to automatically avoid hazards. On-board sensors will detect environmental obstacles and adjust its trajectory to land in a safe area. The liquid methane propulsion system will also be tested. Liquid methane is ideal because it can be produced from water embedded in lunar craters. So there's no need to carry the fuel required for exploratory surface flights or final liftoff.

Hopes are that Morpheus will eventually be developed into a full-scale lander soon. The final approval for Project Morpheus will lie with the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Obama's chief science advisor John Holdren.

America's human space flight efforts have fallen behind those of China and India, who continue to produce more engineers every year. It's time we stepped up the pace.

Alex A. Kecskes has written hundreds of published articles on health/fitness, "green" issues, TV/film entertainment, restaurant reviews and many other topics. As a former Andy/Belding/One Show ad agency copywriter, he also writes web content, ads, brochures, sales letters, mailers and scripts for national B2B and B2C clients. Please see more of his blogs and view additional job postings on Nexxt.