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

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

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

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

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

“The bureau has an array of missions planned to look for crystal and different resources connected the Moon implicit the adjacent 5 years,” Nicola Fox, NASA’s subordinate head of the subject ngo directorate, said successful a statement. “Our way guardant volition marque maximum usage of the exertion and enactment that went into VIPER, portion preserving captious funds to enactment our robust lunar portfolio.”