| abstract | - The Alpha prototype lander was manufactured and assembled at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) and Armadillo Aerospace's facility near Dallas. The prototype lander is a "spacecraft" that is about ft (m) in diameter, weighs approximately lb (kg) and consists of four silver spherical propellant tanks topped by avionics boxes and a web of wires. The project is trying out cost and time saving "lean development" engineering practices. Other project activities include appropriate ground operations, flight operations, range safety and the instigation of software development procedures. Landing pads and control centers were also constructed. From the project start in July 2010, about $14 million was spent on materials in the following 4 years; so the Morpheus project is considered lean and low-cost for NASA. In 2012 the project employed 25 full-time team members, and 60 students. At any one time an average of 40 people worked on the project. Project Morpheus devised and used streamlined processes and practices. The Morpheus Lander's last flight was in December 2014. As there were no funds for further flights the lander was returned to JSC in February 2015. Six formal documents were produced by the project. At the end of project review on March 12, 2015 it was estimated that $50 million had been saved by the lean development methods, minimising documentation, 'Beg and Borrowing' items and buying parts from home depot shops.
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