CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - This aerial view shows the launch platform for the Project Morpheus lander at the midfield point of the Shuttle Landing Facility, or SLF, at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. At the north end of the runway is a rock and crater-filled planetary scape built so engineers can test the Autonomous Landing and Hazard Avoidance Technology, or ALHAT system on the Morpheus lander. Testing will demonstrate ALHATs ability to provide required navigation data negotiating the Morpheus lander away from risks during descent.Checkout of the prototype lander has been ongoing at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston in preparation for its first free flight. The SLF site will provide the lander with the kind of field necessary for realistic testing. Project Morpheus is one of 20 small projects comprising the Advanced Exploration Systems, or AES, program in NASAs Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. AES projects pioneer new approaches for rapidly developin