NASA's Resource Prospector (RP) Mission to the Moon brings together the lander development efforts under the Science Mission and Human Exploration Mission Directorates. The RP mission will be the first In-Situ Resource Utilization (IRSU) demonstration to the lunar surface. The RP mission consists of a pallet lander, a medium-sized rover, and a science instrumentation package containing a miniature drilling and chemistry plant to collect and analyse soil for volatile components such as water or hydrogen that could be used in human exploration efforts. Over the last seven years, NASA has invested in development and risk-reduction for a new generation of small-medium planetary landers capable of carrying payloads to the lunar surface. NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) have jointly implemented a robotic lander development known as the Mighty Eagle. Many lander technologies and algorithms have been tested and demonstrated in an integrated systems environment using the Mighty Eagle free-flying test article. These investments, in concert with investments in technology risk reduction in focused subsystems, have significantly reduced development risk for landers, thereby reducing overall risk and associated costs for future missions. Since 2010, the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) has been developing a vertical test bed, known as Morpheus, to demonstrate new green propellant propulsion systems, autonomous landing, and hazard detection technology. Work that ultimately culminated in Morpheus began in 2006, when NASA's focus became a human return to the Moon (known as the Constellation Program). Morpheus is a large robotic lander and is designed to deliver 500 kilograms (kg) of cargo to the lunar surface. Morpheus has a quad configuration liquid oxygen and liquid methane propulsion system. Since the first hot-fire test in 2011, the Morpheus test vehicle has progressed to free-flight testing at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). This paper presents the current lander configuration for Resource Prospector, now jointly designed and implemented by the integrated team that merges expertise from the Mighty Eagle and Morpheus lander teams. The pallet configuration, as conceived by APL, is unique and brings together many technologies from both lander developments. This transport system is specially designed and optimized to land the maximum payload mass to the surface. It has no legs or deployable ramps. The RP mission is scheduled for its Mission Concept Review (MCR) in early Fall of 2013 with a launch in 2018.
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