What simply occurred? Spending $450 million on a mission solely to see it scrapped could be an enormous blow for any group. That is the unhappy state of affairs NASA finds itself in with its VIPER moon rover, which price virtually half a billion {dollars} to assemble however is being deserted as a result of budgetary constraints.
The Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) has already been constructed by NASA. The rover has been designed to discover the Moon’s south pole for 100 days searching for ice and different sources, with the mission launch set to happen late subsequent yr.
Yesterday (July 17), NASA announced that following a complete evaluate, it intends to discontinue the event of the VIPER mission. The company blamed price will increase, delays to the launch date, and the dangers of future price development that might threaten or disrupt different lunar missions for its determination.
The VIPER, which is in regards to the dimension of a small automobile, initially deliberate to launch in late 2023. In 2022, NASA requested this be delayed to late 2024 to offer extra time for preflight testing of the Astrobotic Griffin Lander. Schedule and provide chain delays later pushed VIPER’s readiness again to September 2025.
Prices for the VIPER mission have been anticipated to rise to $609.6 million – exams have been nonetheless required to find if the rover may survive the shaking of a rocket at launch and the circumstances of house. Canceling the mission is anticipated to avoid wasting a minimum of $84 million.
“Choices like we have been discussing right this moment are extraordinarily tough to make,” Nicola Fox, the affiliate administrator for NASA’s science mission directorate, stated throughout a information convention. “We do not make them calmly. We put a whole lot of thought into one of the best ways to maneuver ahead.”
NASA is planning to disassemble VIPER and use its components on different missions. It stated it was additionally prepared to hearken to proposals from American firms and worldwide companions for utilizing the rover.
The mission to discover the south facet of the Moon continues to be going forward, simply with out the rover, which is being changed by a nonfunctional “mass simulator,” or heavy weight. NASA continues to be paying the corporate that gives the Griffin Lander spacecraft, Pittsburgh-based firm Astrobotic Expertise, $323 million for its providers.
“The company has an array of missions deliberate to search for ice and different sources on the Moon over the subsequent 5 years,” Fox stated. “Our path ahead will make most use of the know-how and work that went into VIPER, whereas preserving important funds to assist our sturdy lunar portfolio.”
Different NASA initiatives may very well be beneath menace after funding for the company’s science packages was diminished by $1 billion for 2025, notes Space.com. That features the Chandra X-ray telescope, which noticed its finances diminished from $41.1 million in 2025 to solely $5.2 million in 2029.
