Huntsville rocket engineers are assembling the prototype for a robotic lander that could lead to a new generation of landers for exploring the moon and asteroids. The propulsion system for the new lander was recently delivered to NASA's Robotic Lunar Lander Development Project at Marshall Space Flight Centre. Read more
The Robotic Lunar Lander Development Project is working in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory to create a new generation of robotic lunar landers. The project will design a lander that will help NASA achieve its science and exploration goals on the moon's surface. The lander will be about the size of a coffee table, but it will be able to conduct big science in a very small package. The lander will be capable of landing on the near side or the far side of the moon, inside or on the edge of craters, and it will be able to withstand the long, dark lunar night. Current designs are capable of operating for a minimum of six years. Read more