Amendment 14: New Opportunity in C.27 VIPER Mission Co-Investigator Program

The Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) Mission is expected to arrive at the Moon in November 2023, with the overall science objectives of: 1) Characterizing the distribution and physical state of lunar polar water and other volatiles in lunar cold traps and regolith to understand their origin; and 2) Providing the data and resource maps necessary for NASA to evaluate the potential of In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) from the lunar polar regions.

C.27 The VIPER Mission Co-Investigator Program solicits proposals for adding Co-Investigators (Co-Is) to the VIPER team. Co-Is are being brought on board early in the mission's development and expected to be fully engaged in all aspects of development and operations alongside the current science team members. The goals of the program are to: a) enhance the scientific return from the VIPER mission by broadening participation in the mission and b) augment the existing VIPER science team to include new members conducting investigations that broaden and/or complement the already funded Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator-led inquires, thus maximizing the contribution of VIPER to the future exploration and scientific understanding of the Moon.

ROSES-2021 Amendment 14 introduces a new opportunity: C.27 VIPER Co-Investigator Program. Step-1 Proposals are due by July 2, 2021 and Step-2 proposals are due August 31, 2021.

On or about May 3, 2021, this Amendment to the NASA Research Announcement "Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) 2021" (NNH21ZDA001N) will be posted on the NASA research opportunity homepage at http://solicitation.nasaprs.com/ROSES2021.

Questions concerning C.27 VIPER may be directed to Sarah Noble at Sarah.K.Noble@nasa.gov.