Transportation
NASA Cancels Rover Mission Set to Search for Ice on Moon
- Spacecraft’s cost overruns threatened other lunar missions
- Viper was set to launch later in 2024 on a 100-day mission
An artist rendering of the Viper.
Source: NASAThis article is for subscribers only.
NASA said on Wednesday it’s canceling a robotic rover program that was due to launch as soon as November to explore the moon for frozen water, citing scheduling and supply chain delays and higher costs.
The spacecraft dubbed Viper - the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover — is a 1,000—pound robot designed to search for water ice and its origins on the far side of the Moon by analyzing the soil.