By: Valentina Cheng
On July 17, NASA discontinued the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, also known as VIPER. Due to many delays in building experiments and growing costs, NASA decided to cancel the rover expedition, saving $84 million.
NASA was supposed to send the rover to the south pole region of the moon to explore the terrain, specifically the form of water ice in that area. Viper, built to the size of a small car, was meant to venture into the moon’s showdown areas, but increasing project expenses led to its cancellation.
Joel Kearns, the deputy associate administrator for exploration in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, has said NASA has already spent $450 million on VIPER, which has been fully constructed. At the briefing of the cancellation, agency officials said that the cost of VIPER has been growing up to 30%, and they have only now started the environmental testing.
In the latest estimation, because of the delays and expected experiments that must be conducted before sending VIPER off, it could cost up to $609.9 million, with the launch date estimated all the way away in September 2025.
Separate from the delays of VIPER, there have also been delays on Astrobitic’s lander, Griffin. In the New York Times article “NASA Spent $450 Million On A Moon Expedition. Now it’s Canceling The Mission,” space journalist Kenneth Chang reported, “NASA then asked Astrobotic to perform additional testing on Griffin, pushing the launch date to late this year.” Also, factors such as “lingering disruptions” and “aftermath of Covid” led to the postponed release of VIPER.
Despite the cancellation, Griffin still proved valuable. According to a Space News article, “NASA Cancels VIPER Lunar Rover,” by aerospace journalist Jeff Foust, “NASA will retain the task order for Griffin. The mission will instead become a technology demonstrator, carrying a mass simulator in place of the rover to test Griffin’s ability to land large payloads.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/17/science/nasa-viper-moon-rover-canceled.html
https://spacenews.com/nasa-cancels-viper-lunar-rover/