On Twitter fromMorpheus LanderMy team tells me I should be launching around 12:30PM CDT today.______________________________________________________________________We will be stream live video of today's test once we get closer to flight. Go to http://morpheuslander.jsc.nasa.gov/live now to get ready.
Ok everyone, we are now streaming live video
The current Morpheus aims to land 500 kg on the Moon when launched on an Atlas V.
Hm, it still seems pretty wobbly to me. It was constantly swaying by the tether, or sliding sideways when it wasn't. Was it very windy today?Not one of their better flights.
Quote from: Mark S on 04/07/2012 12:27 amit still seems pretty wobblyAt Masten, once we had a flight or two worth of data on Xombie, we had it much more stable than that
it still seems pretty wobbly
Quote from: Mark S on 04/07/2012 12:27 amHm, it still seems pretty wobbly to me. It was constantly swaying by the tether, or sliding sideways when it wasn't. Was it very windy today?Not one of their better flights.I was wondering that too. At Masten, once we had a flight or two worth of data on Xombie, we had it much more stable than that (except when we were flying in ~40knot winds). Maybe it's due to the Quad-type architecture? I think their offset between the CG and the gimbal axes is pretty darn short, which means you don't get a lot of lever arm. And it's also tricky to get even depletion of the tanks, which probably causes problems too? Armadillo's quad vehicles always were less stable than their vertically oriented ones...Not sure.~Jon
Maybe it's due to the Quad-type architecture? I think their offset between the CG and the gimbal axes is pretty darn short, which means you don't get a lot of lever arm. And it's also tricky to get even depletion of the tanks, which probably causes problems too? Armadillo's quad vehicles always were less stable than their vertically oriented ones...
Who is the Contractor(s) on this and what fuels are they using?
Morpheus was built by Armadillo Aerospace.
Quote from: jongoff on 04/07/2012 02:14 amQuote from: Mark S on 04/07/2012 12:27 amHm, it still seems pretty wobbly to me. It was constantly swaying by the tether, or sliding sideways when it wasn't. Was it very windy today?Not one of their better flights.I was wondering that too. At Masten, once we had a flight or two worth of data on Xombie, we had it much more stable than that (except when we were flying in ~40knot winds). Maybe it's due to the Quad-type architecture? I think their offset between the CG and the gimbal axes is pretty darn short, which means you don't get a lot of lever arm. And it's also tricky to get even depletion of the tanks, which probably causes problems too? Armadillo's quad vehicles always were less stable than their vertically oriented ones...Not sure.~JonYou're one of the very few people in the world with such intimate first-hand knowledge of relatively routine VTVL, and you're asking us?