MASTEN PROGRAM UPDATE
A test flight of Masten Space Systems XA-0.1B-750 before the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge, doing a systems checkout and verification on a new aluminum rocket thrust chamber and a tweaked controller.
The second of three flights for the day, this was the ground takeoff and landing. The first was just a systems checkout, and the third was a translation test, test of the controls near propellant depletion, and a convenient way to burn off the remaining propellant. Total flight time on one load was 93 seconds.
The rocket floats around a bit, but it’s a normal afternoon in Mojave with a 15 knot wind. (17mph, 7.7 m/s). For VTVL, all winds are crosswinds.
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- Masten Completes First Leg of Lunar Lander Challenge
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