Lunar scientists had been shocked and dismayed final month when NASA introduced that it was canceling work on its moon rover, VIPER. The Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover was meant to go looking the moon’s south pole for proof of water there, however NASA mentioned that it needed to ax the challenge on account of growing prices.
This week, an open letter to Congress referred to as the cancellation of the mission “unprecedented and indefensible,” and questioned NASA’s assertion that the cancellation of the mission wouldn’t have an effect on plans to ship people to the moon. Scientists argued that the mission was elementary to understanding the presence of water on the moon, which is a key useful resource for human exploration, in addition to a problem of scientific curiosity.
Now, nonetheless, the VIPER mission could have the possibility to go forward in a unique type. Intuitive Machines, the corporate that launched a semi-successful lunar lander mission earlier this 12 months, says it’s serious about taking up the rover mission and launching it utilizing its personal lander.
“Our place there may be that VIPER science is essential to lunar scientists and the way forward for the Artemis program, and it’s essential by way of prospecting for volatiles and entrained water ice within the soil,” mentioned Steve Altemus, chief government of Intuitive Machines, as reported by SpaceNews.
NASA has expressed curiosity in handing off the VIPER mission to a business companion, which might certainly be preferable to all the work that has gone into the rover to date going to waste. Altemus mentioned his firm was wanting into what the prices can be to complete work on the rover, and that it was working with different companions corresponding to corporations or universities. He didn’t specify which different organizations had been concerned.
If Intuitive Machines had been to take over VIPER, it might use its Nova-D lander to hold it to the moon, because the Nova-D continues to be in growth, however has a bigger weight capability than the Nova-C lander that landed on the moon earlier this 12 months. The deliberate launch date for the mission can be late 2027, and information from NASA in regards to the mission’s future is predicted subsequent month.
