NASA testing prototype of lunar lander designed in Pittsburgh for 2023 moon shot

Tom Davidson, The Tribune-Review, Greensburg
·2 min read

Mar. 22—A prototype of one of the landing craft a Pittsburgh-based company is designing has been shipped to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston for testing in advance of a planned 2023 trip to the moon.

"It's super-exciting. I never would have dreamed of building a lunar lander in Pa.," Daniel Gilles, mission director for Astrobotic's Griffin Mission One, said.

Gilles is overseeing the development of the Griffin lander, one of two lunar landers Astrobotic, is working on at its North Shore headquarters.

The Griffin prototype was shipped to Houston earlier this month to test its design. It is designed to carry NASA's Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) to the lunar south pole, Gilles said.

NASA will use the prototype to test whether the design of the Griffin's ramps to see if the VIPER can exit the lander to explore the moon.

The Griffin weighs more than 1,110 pounds and is the largest landing craft Astrobotic has designed thus far, Gilles said.

Last June, NASA awarded Astrobotic a $200 million contract for Griffin. This is the most advanced testing of the lander's design, Gilles said.

The tricky part, according to Gilles, is designing the ramps they VIPER can use descend to the lunar surface. They're at a 20 degree angle and have to have a surface that supports the rover.

There are two sets of ramps on either side of the Griffin in case there's an obstruction when it lands.

The VIPER will explore the lunar service and test for volatile chemicals on the moon, he said.

The mission is set for 2023, but NASA controls the timing of when it will be scheduled. Until then, further testing will be done before the real Griffin is built, Gilles said.

Astrobotic also is working on a Peregrine lander that's a smaller craft also designed to deliver payloads to the moon.

Ground control for the missions will be in Pittsburgh at Astrobotic's Manchester headquarters.

The burgeoning company started at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute and had locations in Oakland and the Strip District before it moved to a 47,000 square foot space in Manchester last year.

Tom Davidson is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tom at 724-226-4715, tdavidson@triblive.com or via Twitter .