CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Workers begin construction of the launch platform for the Project Morpheus lander at the midfield of the Shuttle Landing Facility, or SLF, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Testing of the prototype lander has been ongoing at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston in preparation for its first free flight. The SLF will provide the lander with the kind of field necessary for realistic testing, complete with rocks, craters and hazards to avoid. Morpheus utilizes an autonomous landing and hazard avoidance technology, or ALHAT, payload that will allow it to navigate to clear landing sites amidst rocks, craters and other hazards during its descent. Project Morpheus is one of 20 small projects comprising the Advanced Exploration Systems, or AES, program in NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. AES projects pioneer new approaches for rapidly developing prototype systems, demonstrating key capabilities and validating operational concepts for future human missions beyond Earth orbit. For more information on Project Morpheus, visit http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/exploration/morpheus/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett KSC-2012-3751
![[Assignment: 48-DPA-10-21-08_SOI_K_Yuma] Visit of Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to the [Arizona-California border area,] where he toured the Bureau of Reclamation's Yuma, Arizona [Area Office-Yuma Desalting Plant with Bureau Commissioner Robert Johnson, and joined Johnson and officials from the Southern Nevada Water Authority, Central Arizona Project, and Metropolitan Water District of Southern California at groundbreaking ceremonies for the Drop 2 Reservoir Project--part of the Lower Colorado River Water Storage Program--in Imperial County, California] [48-DPA-10-21-08_SOI_K_Yuma_DOI_2723.JPG]](https://cache.getarchive.net/Prod/thumb/cdn10/L3Bob3RvLzIwMDgvMTAvMjAvYXNzaWdubWVudC00OC1kcGEtMTAtMjEtMDhfc29pX2tfeXVtYS12aXNpdC1vZi1zZWNyZXRhcnktZGlyay1rZW1wdGhvcm5lLXRvLTIxYTdiYS02NDAuanBn/40/26/webp "[Assignment: 48-DPA-10-21-08_SOI_K_Yuma] Visit of Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to the [Arizona-California border area,] where he toured the Bureau of Reclamation's Yuma, Arizona [Area Office-Yuma Desalting Plant with Bureau Commissioner Robert Johnson, and joined Johnson and officials from the Southern Nevada Water Authority, Central Arizona Project, and Metropolitan Water District of Southern California at groundbreaking ceremonies for the Drop 2 Reservoir Project--part of the Lower Colorado River Water Storage Program--in Imperial County, California] [48-DPA-10-21-08_SOI_K_Yuma_DOI_2723.JPG]")
