VIPER
Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover
Overview
On July 17, 2024, NASA announced its intent to discontinue the VIPER mission due to overall Science Mission Directorate funding constraints, future budget risks, and lander delays. NASA has since been exploring options for a partnership that would enable delivery of VIPER to the lunar surface and accomplishment of its science goals.
NASA's Artemis lunar rover, the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER, was designed to explore the relatively nearby but extreme environment of the Moon in search of ice and other potential resources. This mobile robot was slated to land at the South Pole of the Moon on a 100-day mission, in order to teach us about the origin and distribution of water on the Moon and help determine how we can harvest the Moon's resources for future human space exploration.
Data from the rover could show where the Moon's ice is most likely to be found and easiest to access, making VIPER the first-ever resource mapping mission on another celestial body. The first resource maps of the Moon would support NASA's Artemis missions to establish a long-term presence on the surface of the Moon.
Thanks to past missions such as satellites orbiting the Moon or impacting its surface, we know there is ice at the lunar poles. But to be able to use it one day, we need to learn more about that water – up close and personal. VIPER is designed to roam the Moon using its three instruments and a 3.28-foot (1-meter) drill to detect and analyze various lunar soil environments at a range of depths and temperatures. The rover can venture into permanently shadowed craters, some of the coldest spots in the solar system, where ice reserves have endured for billions of years.
The mission's instruments also can make important science measurements. Determining the distribution, physical state, and composition of these ice deposits could help us understand the sources of the lunar polar water, giving us insight into the distribution and origin of water and other volatiles across the solar system.
NASA's Moon Rover Faces Extreme Mobility Tests
VIPER will face a rugged environment during its mission at the Moon’s South Pole. Mission team members created a simulated lunar terrain to test the rover’s mobility.
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