The moon Rover gave NASA a second chance to reach the moon. The blue origin will deliver Viper to the moon on the upcoming Lunar Lander mission, which revives the task of exploration after it was canceled last year.
Nassa contract The blue origin is to transfer the moon Rover to the moon as part of the agency’s lunar loader services. The flying materials that were achieved in the polar exploration, or VIPER were originally launched to launch in 2023, but it faced several delay even The task was completely canceled Because she threatened to disable other load shipments on the moon. Under the new deal, VIPER will ride to the moon on board the Blue Moon Mark 1 (MK1), to be launched in 2027.
Water hunter
Viper is designed for Look for water ice in the southern poleAn integral aspect of creating a sustainable human presence on the surface of the moon as part of the NASA Artemis program.
“Roverna will explore the extreme environment of the southern lunar pole, as it travels to small shaded areas permanently to help inform the future landing sites of our space pioneers and better understand the moon environment, which are basic visions to maintain humans on longer missions, as America leads our future in space,” said Sean Dove, a NASA director, in a statement.
The four -wheeled Rover ROOR is equipped with four tools and headlights, which will be necessary to permanently explore the shaded pits on the moon. Throughout its 100 -day mission, VIPER is designed to set the site and abundance of water in the southern pole.
VIPER was originally supposed to be launched with GRIFFIN Lander from Astrobooth under the mission of lunar commercial load services worth $ 322 million. The launch was first rested to 2024 and then to 2025 due to an additional schedule and the delay of the supply chain. In July 2024, NASA decided to cancel the task completelyShe said that she threatens to disrupt other commercial load tasks on the moon.
NASA initially decided to dismantle the robot and reuse its parts for future missions. However, the agency’s decision angered the science community due to the potential loss of Viper. In response, NASA launched an invitation to the private sector to take over its robot and send it to the moon. At this point, NASA has already spent $ 450 million in developing VIPER, and the agency announced that it will not spend any other money in obtaining a landing on the moon.
“NASA is committed to studying and exploring the moon, including learn more about water on the moon, to help determine how we can harness local resources for human exploration in the future,” Nikki Fox, the assistant official of the NASA Directorate of Science Mission, said in a statement. “We were looking for creative and cost-effective approaches to achieving these exploration goals. This ability to decline in the private sector allows this delivery and focuses our investments accordingly-support American leadership in space and ensure that our long-term exploration is strong and affordable.”
When choosing a blue origin to move the snake to the moon, NASA kept the mission alive to what I previously described as the most powerful robot that he sent on the moon.
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