Voyager's Lunar Lander Clears JPL Environmental Tests Before Year-End Launch

Voyager Technologies' Griffin Mission One lander has cleared a battery of environmental trials at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, clearing the path for a launch scheduled later this year. The tests were built to mirror conditions the spacecraft will meet between launch and touchdown: extreme temperatures, intense vibration, and the loud acoustic environment of flight. JPL announced the lander passed the full series of tests. An image dated Aug. 31 shows the spacecraft inside JPL's 25-foot-wide space simulator.

The laboratory's Environmental Test Laboratory has been stressing robotic explorers since the Ranger program, which delivered NASA's first close-up views of the moon's surface in the mid-1960s. Charles Whetsel, who manages JPL's Exploration Systems Development Office, said the lab is supporting commercial lunar work with that history behind it. "We're proud to provide our expertise and facilities to support this new phase of commercial lunar exploration," he said.

Griffin-1 will fly under NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative. It is set to deliver more than 1,100 pounds, or 455 kilograms, of cargo to a site near the lunar south pole. The manifest includes science experiments and new technology demonstrations. Among them is Astrolab's FLIP rover, designed to traverse terrain while carrying a supercomputer onboard.

NASA aims to build a crewed moon base near the lunar south pole over the next five years or so. The Griffin-1 mission is expected to contribute work toward that effort. No launch date has been announced beyond the plan to fly later this year.