News media representatives are invited to view NASA’s Morpheus lander at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 10 a.m. EST Friday, Jan. 17. Morpheus arrived at Kennedy in November 2013 for a series of flight tests scheduled to occur through April 2014.

Morpheus is a prototype lander engineers can use to incorporate technologies for future spacecraft that could land on a variety of destinations in our solar system. The project integrates NASA’s automated landing and hazard avoidance technology, or ALHAT, with an engine that runs on liquid oxygen and methane, or “green” propellants, into a fully operational lander that could deliver cargo to asteroids and other planetary surfaces.

During the event, members of the media will tour the Morpheus hangar, command and control center, and the ALHAT hazard field designed to provide the lander with the type of terrain it may encounter during a touchdown at its destination, including rocks and craters. NASA officials from the Morpheus Project office based at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, along with Kennedy project personnel, will be available for interviews.

Media should arrive at Kennedy’s Press Site by 9 a.m. for transportation to the event. U.S. media without Kennedy accreditation must apply for credentials by noon, Thursday, Jan. 16.  International media accreditation for this event is closed.

Two forms of government-issued identification are required to receive a badge, one with a photograph such as a driver’s license or passport. Badges will be available for pickup at the Kennedy Badging Office, located on State Road 405 east of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Hours for the Kennedy Badging Office are 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Journalists needing accreditation should apply online at:

https://media.ksc.nasa.gov

To attend the event, media representatives must be dressed in full-length pants, flat shoes that entirely cover the feet and shirts with sleeves.

For more information about Project Morpheus and videos of past tests, visit:

http://morpheuslander.jsc.nasa.gov

For more information about NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/kennedy

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