Leonard David is an award-winning space journalist who has been reporting on space activities for more than 50 years. Currently writing as Space.
The space agency's Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover project had undergone a comprehensive internal review. NASA found price tag sticker shock, delays to the launch date, and risk of future cost growth –
The landing without VIPER onboard"will provide a flight demonstration of the Griffin lander and its engines," NASA stated. In VIPER's absence, a"mass simulator" will be used to mimic the weight of the missing NASA rover.To start with, it has not been smooth sailing for Astrobotic.A mishap review investigation of why the private company’s first moon lander failed is forthcoming, Astrobotic said.
These images produced by the Lyman Alpha Mapping Project aboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter reveal features at the Moon's northern and southern poles in the regions that lie in perpetual darkness. Scientists think these areas may hide fluffy dirt and water ice.Schörghofer calls identifying the abundance and distribution of water ice in the lunar polar regions"a science and exploration priority.
"If one is serious about finding ice on the moon, we also need a mission that can explore large permanently cold and dark craters, which even VIPER and Artemis 3 will not be able to reach. And that appears to be even further off in the future," Schörghofer said.The intended termination of VIPER is devastating news said Benjamin Greenhagen, chair of the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group .
Greenhagen posted that"LEAG will be working to bring that message to NASA in the coming weeks and I expect there will be other individual- and community-organized efforts as well."scientists have put together a sign-on-the-dotted line support letter to be sent to members of the U.S. Congress urging them to reconsider the decision.In an open letter to Congress, the communiqué asks lawmakers to refuse NASA’s cancellation of the VIPER Moon mission.
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