A private space company, Moon Express, is preparing for their first tethered tests of a prototype compact lunar lander at the Lunar Terrain Field located at the end of Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility or “SLF.” The MTV-1X lander is about the size of a coffee table and is dwarfed in size by the NASA-developed Morpheus Lander – this however does not mean that this spacecraft has not made a big impression. The lander passed full pressurization and telemetry tests on Dec. 7, 2014. A static test of the thrusters was completed on Dec. 11, 2014. The initial flight tests will be tethered tests where the lander will be tied to a crane where it will then attempt to land in the Lunar Terrain Field. The team will return in early 2015 for additional testing with the MTV-1X having added hydrogen peroxide thrusters, a star tracker and some of the navigation controls that will be used on the actual flight vehicle.
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 22:52:23 +0000
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