NASA will send the VIPER rover to the Moon to scout the terrain and find water
This will help in the long term sustainability of lunar missions and a future base
It will land at the lunar south pole where craters are in permanent darkness
It is thought that water ice is locked away in these ancient regions of the Moon
The $433.5 million mission will pave the way for a crewed mission a year later
The rover will operate on the lunar surface for 100 days and have headlights
May 24, 2021
As part of the Artemis program, NASA is planning to send its first mobile robot to the Moon in late 2023 in search of ice and other resources on and below the lunar surface.
Data from the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (Viper) would help the agency map resources at the lunar South Pole that could one day be harvested for long-term human exploration at the Moon.
Viper’s design calls for using the first headlights on a lunar rover to aid in exploring the permanently shadowed regions of the Moon. These areas haven’t seen sunlight in billions of years and are some of the coldest spots in the solar system. Running on solar power, Viper will need to quickly maneuver around the extreme swings in light and dark at the lunar South Pole.
As part of the Artemis program, NASA is planning to send its first mobile robot to the Moon in late 2023 in search of ice and other resources on and below the lunar surface. Data from the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER, would help the agency map resources at the lunar Sout