The Griffin-1 lunar lander undergoes testing at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

The robotic Griffin lunar lander has passed a host of critical tests ahead of its first-ever moon mission, which is scheduled to launch later this year.

What is it?

At NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, Voyager Technologies' Griffin Mission One (or Griffin-1 ) lunar lander has gone through an absolute gauntlet of tests. The spacecraft was put through environmental testing that explored how the vehicle will fare in the extreme conditions it will experience on its ride to the surface of the moon .

This testing simulated the extreme temperatures, shaking and even the sounds that the spacecraft will experience from launch to landing. And, as JPL announced recently, the lander passed this series of tests with flying colors, as we can see in this image snapped Aug.…