Moon lander crashes, burns in test

• NASA's "Morpheus" prototype crashes in its first free-flight test
• No one was injured, the space agency says
• NASA calls failed tests "part of the development process"

(CNN) -- An unmanned moon lander under development flipped over, crashed and burned during an engine test Thursday afternoon at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the space agency reported.

There were no injuries in the failed test of the lander, dubbed "Morpheus." The craft had gone through several previous exercises in which it was hung from a crane, but Thursday was to have been its first free flight.

Instead, the prototype rose a short distance off the ground, rolled over and slammed into the ground, catching fire immediately. In a statement Thursday afternoon, NASA said the lander "experienced a hardware component failure" after liftoff.

"Engineers are looking into the test data and the agency will release information as it comes available," it said. "Failures such as these were anticipated prior to the test, and are part of the development process for any complex spaceflight hardware. What we learn from these tests will help us build the best possible system in the future."

The craft is designed to carry up to 1,100 pounds of cargo for a future moon mission. Its engines are fueled partly by methane, which the agency says easier to handle and store than other propellants such as liquid hydrogen or hydrazine.

CNN's John Couwels contributed to this report.