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<\/p>\nAstrobotic, a Pittsburg-based lunar lander company, has fully assembled the test model for its largest lunar lander in development, the Griffin.<\/p>\n
A medium-class lander, Griffin is designed to deliver up to 625 kilograms to the lunar surface and survive for 14 days while providing communications and power to the payload if required.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The fully loaded Griffin Structural Test Model (STM) weighs more than 6,000 kilograms (13,000 lb), making it the largest lunar lander since the Apollo program.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe STM\u2019s deck was hollowed out from a single 12ft x 12ft aluminum sheet and has more than 2,500 bolts securing the primary structure alone,\u201d related Brandon Schoonmaker, Mechanical Systems Lead at Astrobotic during an interview with NASASpaceflight.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe constructed the STM as a pathfinder activity, allowing us to try out the tools, equipment, and processes before spaceflight.\u201d<\/p>\n
The team is now gearing up for rigorous testing as they head towards Griffen\u2019s inaugural launch in 2023 onboard SpaceX\u2019s Falcon Heavy. That flight will carry NASA\u2019s water hunting Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, also known as VIPER, to the Moon\u2019s surface as part of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services for the agency\u2019s Artemis program.<\/p>\n
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A Griffin lander test article for NASA VIPER rover tests. (Credit: Astrobotic)<\/p>\n
\u201cThe intent [of these tests] is to test as you fly and fly as you test,\u201d said Pete Fry, Mechanical and Fluid Systems Manager at Astrobotic, in the interview with NASASpaceflight.<\/p>\n
Technology News (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n \u201cSo we want to understand the mission in as much detail as [we] possibly can. Not only the launch event but also the landing and everything in between. The environmental test campaign is a way for us to learn as much as we possibly can, improve the system as early in the mission as we can, and do that going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n So what\u2019s exactly being tested during the environmental test?<\/p>\n The STM will undergo static, acoustic, and vibration testing at specialized facilities which will help ensure the Griffin survives the harsh environments of launch, descent, and landing.<\/p>\n These tests, from a structures perspective, will expose the lander to harsher conditions than will actually experience in its mission, providing the teams with additional confidence that it\u2019ll perform nominally during the actual mission.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce we\u2019re able to take the results of that and correlate it back to our engineering and our analysis and our design models, it just helps improve the whole mission moving forward when you do that,\u201d said Frye.<\/p>\n