A tethered lander is designed to excavate lunar-analog soil mid-mission, mix it with onboard deionized water, and return conductivity data in the range expected for fertilized soil — the team's most demanding payload concept yet.
The mechanism has to excavate, meter, and mix a wet-chemistry sample entirely on tether, under time pressure, before extraction — with every subsystem qualified through the same design cycle as the airframe it rides on.
The airframe cleared every NASA design review before its first full-scale flight of the season.
The airframe and payload concept cleared NASA's first review gate, confirming the mission's feasibility and requirements.
Detailed design, manufacturing plans, and verification approach cleared NASA's second review gate.
Two reusable flights, every subsystem performing nominally — validating the airframe ahead of the competition launch.
The competition vehicle flew its full-scale qualification launch at Bragg Farms.