NASA could not bring its rover to the moon, so Blue Origin will do it instead

NASA’s lunar water hunting rover had a second chance to reach the surface of the moon. Blue Origin will deliver Viper to the Moon during a next Mission Lunar Landder, resuscitating the exploration mission after its cancellation last year.

NASA has contracted Blue Origin to transport its lunar rover to the moon as part of the agency’s lunar payload commercial services. The volatiles investigating the Polar Exploration Rover, or Viper, were originally launched in 2023, but were confronted with several delays until the mission was completely canceled because it threatened to disturb the other deliveries of payload to the Moon. As part of the New Deal, Viper will reach the moon on board Blue Origin Blue Moon Moon (MK1) Lander, scheduled for launch in 2027.

Water hunter

Viper is designed to search for water ice in the South Lunar pole, an integral aspect of the establishment of a lasting human presence on the surface of the Moon as part of the NASA Artemis program.

“Our rover will explore the extreme environment of the lunar South Pole, traveling in small constantly shaded regions to help light up future landing sites for our astronauts and better understand the environment of the moon – important ideas for the maintenance of humans on longer missions, as America leads our future in space,” said Sean Duffy, administrator of NASA.

The four -wheeled square rover is equipped with four instruments and headlights, which will be necessary to explore the craters permanently shaded on the moon. During its mission at 100 days, Viper is designed to map the location and abundance of water at the South Lunar pole.

Viper was originally supposed to be launched with Griffin Lander of Astrobotic in an order of commercial tasks of useful lunar lunar worth $ 322 million. The launch date was postponed for the first time until 2024 and later to 2025 due to the additional calendar delays and supply chain. In July 2024, NASA decided to completely cancel the mission, declaring that it threatens to disrupt other commercial payload missions on the Moon.

NASA initially decided to dismantle the robot and reuse its pieces for future missions. The agency’s decision, however, aroused the indignation of the scientific community concerning Viper’s potential loss. In response, NASA called on the private sector to resume its robot and send it to the moon. At this point, NASA had already spent $ 450 million in developing Viper, and the agency said it would no longer spend money to land the rover on the moon.

“NASA is committed to studying and exploring the moon, including learning more about water on the lunar surface, to help determine how we can exploit local resources for future human exploration,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator of the Directorate of the NASA Scientific Mission, in a press release. “We are looking for creative and profitable approaches to achieve these exploration goals. This landing capacity developed by the private sector allows this delivery and concentrates our investments accordingly – the management of American leadership in space and guarantee that our long -term exploration is robust and affordable. ”

By selecting Blue Origin to transport Viper to the Moon, NASA has kept the mission alive for what it had described previously as the most capable robot ever sent to the lunar surface.