NASA has made the tough decision to cancel a $450 million program aimed at mapping water ice deposits on the moon, a vital resource for future human presence in space. The program, known as Viper, was set to be a groundbreaking resource-mapping mission but faced rising costs and scheduling challenges.
Scheduled to fly on Astrobotic’s lunar lander next year, Viper would have conducted a 100-day mission to map lunar ice deposits using a 1-meter drill. This mission was crucial in identifying water-rich areas on the moon, information that would have been invaluable for NASA’s Artemis program planning crewed missions to the moon.
Not only NASA but also startups looking into lunar prospecting and mining would have benefited from Viper’s data. The mission’s complexity involved navigating the moon’s coldest regions and operating in near-real time with limited navigation tools. Additionally, the mission would have relied on the capabilities of Astrobotic’s Griffin lander, which was untested for such a heavy and expensive payload.
Although Viper has been canceled, the mission will still proceed using the Griffin lander. NASA officials cited cost concerns as the reason for the cancellation, hoping to repurpose some of Viper’s components for future missions to save costs. Despite the setback, the agency remains committed to exploring the moon and beyond.
