NASA's moon-bound ice-hunting rover set for Blue Origin's 2027 lunar landing, backed by Jeff Bezos
NASA's Moon Exploration Mission VIPER Gets a New Lease of Life
NASA's lunar exploration mission, VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Explorer Rover), has been revived and is now scheduled to touch down near the blue moon's south pole in late 2027. This extended mission will last approximately 100 Earth days, during which VIPER will hunt for water ice.
Originally, VIPER was scheduled to land on the moon in late 2023 aboard Griffin, a lander built by Astrobotic. However, delays with both Griffin and VIPER pushed the target date back multiple times.
The new strategy for VIPER involves a CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) deal with Blue Origin, worth $190 million. Blue Origin will use its robotic Blue Moon Mark 1 lander for this mission. The responsibility for the launch and lunar landing of the VIPER rover in 2027 belongs to Blue Origin.
NASA is leading the world in exploring more of the moon than ever before, with the lunar presence set to be centred on the moon's south polar region, which is thought to have abundant water ice. The agency is committed to studying and exploring the moon, including learning more about water on the lunar surface, to help determine how they can harness local resources for future human exploration.
Nicky Fox, associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, stated, "We are excited to continue our exploration of the moon with VIPER. This mission will provide valuable insights into the lunar environment and help us prepare for future human missions."
The VIPER mission is a key part of NASA's Artemis program, which aims to establish a long-term, sustainable human presence on and around the moon by 2030. In July 2024, NASA canceled the VIPER mission due to budget constraints. However, with the new strategy, the mission has been revived, and the CLPS contract does not cover the mission's launch.
NASA will be in charge of the science operations for VIPER, while Blue Origin will handle the landing mission architecture, integration of VIPER into Blue Moon, and deployment onto the lunar surface. The Blue Moon Mark 1 lander is scheduled to debut later this year on another NASA CLPS mission to the lunar south pole.
The canceled mission would have saved about $84 million and had already cost NASA roughly $450 million. Despite the costs, the agency remains committed to its lunar exploration efforts, with VIPER set to provide crucial data on the moon's water resources.
The Artemis program and missions like VIPER are a significant step towards NASA's goal of establishing a long-term human presence on the moon. With the revival of VIPER, the agency is one step closer to achieving this goal and unlocking the secrets of the moon's south pole.
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