Even though it’s already built.
Snake Pit
NASA announced on Wednesday that it will not send its $500 million lunar rover to the moon’s surface, even though it has already completed the project.
Known as Polar rover searches for volatiles (VIPER) is an extraterrestrial probe planned to search for water ice on the moon’s cold south polar surface.
But these ambitious goals have come at a steep cost: The golf-cart-sized rover has already cost NASA $450 million. And now, after repeated delays and mounting costs, the agency has decided to cancel the mission altogether, the latest sign of the agency’s tight budget environment.
“Decisions like the ones we discussed today are extremely difficult to make,” Nicola Fox, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, said at a press conference. Quote source The New York Times“We don’t take decisions lightly and we will be thoughtful about the best way forward.”
Unused and unproven
VIPER will not be aboard a planned launch next year. By cutting its losses now, the office expects to save at least $84 million, according to Joel Karns, deputy assistant administrator for exploration in the science office. The New York Times.
Space agency officials say VIPER’s costs have risen by more than 30 percent, and once complete, the rover still needs to undergo extensive testing to evaluate how it handles rocket launches and the space environment. Depending on the results of those tests, construction and research could become even more expensive.
Kearns said the latest estimates are via Space Newsthere were concerns that continuing the mission would have cost a staggering total of $609.6 million, but that’s assuming the rover functions perfectly. Supply chain disruptions during the COVID pandemic were cited as one of the reasons the project was delayed and its budget ballooned.
There have also been delays to Astrobotic’s private lunar lander, Griffin, which was supposed to land VIPER on the moon’s surface, but NASA is paying the company $323 million to do so, with a mass simulator replacing the rover to demonstrate its capabilities.
Money Management
VIPER, meanwhile, is unlikely to be used in any capacity — that is, unless a U.S. company or international partner is willing to use the untested probe at no additional cost to the government.
But it will probably just be scrapped: VIPER’s parts and science instruments, including the ice drill and several spectrometers, could be used for other missions.
It’s an ignominious end for the rover, but with NASA’s tight budget, the costs of VIPER threatened to eat into other lunar missions.
VIPER and Artemis II Artemis IIINASA Mission Send astronauts back to the moon If things go smoothly for the first time in 50 years, then I know it was the right decision.
More about NASA: NASA says space station could fall for 18 months before finally being destroyed
