Announcement for the Lunar Volatiles Science Partnership with NASA’s VIPER Rover
Update (February 20, 2025): New responses to proposer questions posted below.
Update (February 14, 2025): Technical debrief slides and presentation materials posted below.
Update (February 11, 2025): Technical debrief meeting details added below.
Update (February 7, 2025): Kickoff meeting details added below.
NASA has published an Announcement for Partnership Proposals (AFPP) inviting proposals from parties interested in partnering with NASA to obtain science data with NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Explorer Rover (VIPER) by landing it on the Moon, operating it, and sharing the science results. The formal release of the AFPP can be found on sam.gov at this link. It can also be found by searching for solicitation number NNH25ZDA010L.
A selected partnership proposal would culminate in a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) for a Lunar Volatiles Science Partnership (LVSP).
A copy of the AFPP is linked here for convenience.
The AFPP refers to this website as NASA’s Volatiles Partnership website, and NASA will post additional information here as it is available. It is the responsibility of interested parties and proposers to stay up to date with this website and ensure that they have the latest information available. The results of any Q&A discussions or other future briefings will be posted at this website and not necessarily updated on sam.gov.
Questions about this solicitation can be sent to HQ-volatilespartnership@mail.nasa.gov.
For more information on NASA’s Lunar Discovery and Exploration Program, click here.
NASA Science Mission Directorate’s Exploration Science Strategy Integration Office will have a kickoff meeting to highlight the content of the AFPP and the overall LVSP approach.
NASA will host a technical debrief and question and answer meeting (February 13th, 2025, 2-6pm EST) to discuss recent updates on VIPER project analysis of test campaigns and ground system development. This will be an update on information previously provided as part of the VIPER Rover Partnership RFI site, which has other relevant technical information. NASA will announce this meeting time on this website as well as the approach for submitting questions.
VIPER Technical Reference Document Information
The AFPP mentions “VIPER– Program of Record Technical Information to Inform Partnership Proposal Formulation” as a technical reference document. Upon review, NASA is able to publicly release this full document at the following link:
- Please find the complete technical reference document at this link here.
- Note: Prior to AFPP release, NASA thought that this reference document might potentially contain export-controlled information tied to International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR). However, upon review, the report was cleared by NASA Ames for full and open posting as it does not have ITAR/EAR information. There is no longer a need for a proposer to contact NASA for permission to access the document, as it is available above.
Lunar Volatiles Science Partnership AFPP Kickoff (updated 2/7/2025)
This presentation will outline the AFPP and provide a chance to ask questions. NASA will share responses to questions after the fact at this Volatiles partnership webpage.
You are able to submit questions in advance to this site. All questions submitted will be shared publicly with meeting attendees, and SMD will post a summary of these questions to the Volatiles Partnership website. Click here to submit a question.
Meeting time and event
Time: Monday, February 10, 2025 2:00 PM | (UTC-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)
Link: Click to join
Webinar number: 2831 951 2205. Webinar password: 68rrYnnPEg2 (68779667 when dialing from a phone or video system)
Join by phone: +1-415-527-5035 (United States toll-free). Access code: 283 195 12205
Update 2/10: Click here for the briefing charts used for the AFPP kickoff meeting. SMD will post a summary of responses to the kickoff Q&A by February 17th. Additional questions can still be submitted here.
If troubleshooting is required, email hq-volatilespartnership@nasa.gov. More information may be posted to this Volatiles partnership webpage if corrections are required.
Lunar Volatiles Science Partnership - VIPER Technical Debrief (updated 2/11/2025)
Staff that worked on the VIPER rover will provide additional technical information on the rover design and approach.
You are able to submit questions in advance to this site. All questions submitted will be shared publicly with meeting attendees. To submit a question, click here.
Meeting time and event
Time: Thursday, February 13, 2025 2:00 PM | (UTC-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada) projected until 6:00 PM Eastern
Link: Click to join
Webinar number: 2827 179 7031
Join by phone: +1-415-527-5035 (United States toll-free) or +1-312-500-3163 (Chicago, IL). Access code: 282 717 97031
If troubleshooting is required, email hq-volatilespartnership@nasa.gov. More information may be posted to this Volatiles partnership webpage if corrections are required
Update (February 14, 2025): Presentation slides from the February 13, 2025 VIPER Technical Debrief can be found here.
The video of the technical briefing can be found in the below video file.
Update (February 20, 2025): Responses to Proposer Questions
Responses to questions submitted by proposers have been posted here.
Point of Contact
Exploration Science Strategy Integration Office
Science Mission Directorate
hq-volatilespartnership@mail.nasa.gov
