Moon craft explodes during trial

A small Nasa lander vehicle being tested for missions to the Moon and beyond has crashed and burned after veering off course during a trial run at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

There were no injuries when the prototype, known as Morpheus, burst into flames. The engines of the insect-like vehicle, designed and built in Houston, appeared to ignite as planned, but it then rolled over on its side and plummeted to the ground.

Nasa claimed that the failure was anticipated and "was part of the development process".