Griffin-1 finishes tests before Moon launch

Griffin-1, a lunar lander from Voyager Technologies, has passed environmental tests at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, and NASA says the results show the spacecraft is ready for the trip. It is expected to launch later this year on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy under NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative.

NASA says the tests simulated the extreme temperatures and vacuum of space and the shaking and roar of launch. Griffin-1 is to deliver more than 1,100 pounds, or 455 kilograms, of cargo to Nobile Crater near the lunar south pole. NASA categorizes it as an infrastructure-class lander. It will carry 10 science and technology demonstrations from six countries, including Astrolab's FLIP rover, which NASA calls the largest commercial payload ever delivered to the Moon.

Testing began in July after the 2,789-pound, or 1,265-kilogram, spacecraft was driven from Voyager Lunar Systems in Pittsburgh to the laboratory. Engineers spun it on a table to measure its mass properties and to look for unexpected wobbles. NASA says that measurement matters for navigation in flight and for landing. The lander then went through electromagnetic interference and compatibility testing in an anechoic chamber lined with foam spikes. Hundreds of sensors watched it on a shaker table that rattled it in three directions to simulate the ride on a rocket. Horns powered by compressed nitrogen blasted it with up to 153 decibels in a sealed acoustic chamber.

The campaign ended in the 25-Foot Space Simulator, a thermal vacuum chamber on the National Register of Historic Places. The chamber has tested spacecraft from the Ranger, Surveyor, Mariner, and Voyager programs, and later Perseverance and Europa Clipper. For about two weeks under its 85-foot, or 26-meter, ceiling, Griffin-1 was heated to 167 degrees Fahrenheit, or 75 degrees Celsius, and cooled to minus 148 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 100 degrees Celsius.

Charles Whetsel, who manages the Exploration Systems Development Office at the laboratory, said the lab has tested robotic explorers since the Ranger program in the mid-1960s and is providing its facilities for this phase of commercial lunar exploration. John Thornton, executive vice president at Voyager, said completing the tests is a milestone, and that Griffin-1 is being built to deliver infrastructure to the Moon and is ready for launch, the trip through deep space, and the lunar south pole.

NASA says Griffin-1 has since returned to Voyager Lunar Systems for final assembly. Launch-readiness work comes before shipment to Cape Canaveral. NASA has not given a launch date beyond later this year.