NASA isn’t moving forward with its VIPER program — short for Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover — which aimed to put a rover on the far side of the Moon to search for water. On Wednesday, NASA cited cost increases and several delays as its reasons for canceling the project.
VIPER was originally expected to launch at the end of 2023. However, NASA pushed the date to September 2025 due to supply chain and scheduling delays.
Astrobotic, the same company behind the ill-fated Peregrine Moon lander, was supposed to launch the VIPER aboard its Griffin spacecraft. Despite VIPER’s cancellation, Astrobotic will continue its contract with NASA to land the Griffin lander on the Moon without the rover “no earlier than” fall 2025.
After a comprehensive review, we are discontinuing development of our VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) project. We are committed to studying and exploring the Moon, and will pursue other methods to accomplish many of VIPER's goals: https://t.co/oMyngdoUKc pic.twitter.com/UJXmf0gnRv
— NASA (@NASA) July 17, 2024
NASA says continued development of VIPER would “result in an increased cost that threatens cancellation or disruption” to other missions under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. The agency has spent $450 million to develop the rover so far, according to Bloomberg. Instead of dedicating more resources to the craft, it has chosen to disassemble and reuse the rover’s instruments for future missions to the Moon.
“The agency has an array of missions planned to look for ice and other resources on the Moon over the next five years,” Nicola Fox, NASA’s associate administrator of the science mission directorate, said in a statement. “Our path forward will make maximum use of the technology and work that went into VIPER, while preserving critical funds to support our robust lunar portfolio.”
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