NASA cancels its VIPER rover that would’ve searched for water on the Moon

NASA isn’t moving guardant pinch its VIPER programme — short for Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover — which aimed to put a rover connected nan acold broadside of nan Moon to hunt for water. On Wednesday, NASA cited costs increases and respective delays arsenic its reasons for canceling nan project.

VIPER was primitively expected to launch astatine nan extremity of 2023. However, NASA pushed nan day to September 2025 owed to proviso concatenation and scheduling delays.

Astrorobotic, nan aforesaid institution down the ill-fated Peregrine Moon lander, was expected to motorboat nan VIPER aboard its Griffin spacecraft. Despite VIPER’s cancellation, Astrorobotic will continue its statement pinch NASA to onshore nan Griffin lander connected nan Moon without nan rover “no earlier than” autumn 2025.

NASA says continued improvement of VIPER would “result successful an accrued costs that threatens cancellation aliases disruption” to different missions nether nan Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. The agency has spent $450 cardinal to create nan rover truthful far, according to Bloomberg. Instead of dedicating much resources to nan craft, it has chosen to disassemble and reuse nan rover’s instruments for early missions to nan Moon.

“The agency has an array of missions planned to look for crystal and different resources connected nan Moon complete nan adjacent 5 years,” Nicola Fox, NASA’s subordinate administrator of nan subject ngo directorate, said successful a statement. “Our way guardant will make maximum usage of nan exertion and activity that went into VIPER, while preserving captious costs to support our robust lunar portfolio.”