NASA’s Morpheus lander crashed and burned during its first free flight test today at Kennedy Space Center. It was Morpheus’ first flight without being attached to a crane. The automated craft had a successful tethered flight on August 3.
The "green" vehicle, large enough to carry about 1,100 pounds of cargo to the moon, is designed to run on liquid oxygen and methane fuel — which NASA says is cheaper and can be stored longer in space than other propellants.
But for now anyway, it's boom goes the dynamite.