NASA abandoned the lunar exploration project due to high cost
Kyiv • UNN
NASA is abandoning the $450 million VIPER lunar exploration project due to cost increases and delays, but plans to use VIPER technology in other lunar missions.
NASA is canceling the VIPER project, worth 450 million dollars, which was designed to explore space on the far side of the moon. Writes UNN with reference to The Verge.
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The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration will not proceed with the VIPER (short for Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) program, which was supposed to send a rover to the far side of the moon to search for water. NASA on Wednesday cited increased costs and several delays as reasons for canceling the project.
The agency had previously spent $450 million on the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) rover, which was originally estimated to cost less than $430 million (about 393 million euros). The launch of the robotic rover was originally planned for 2022, but has already been postponed until at least spring 2025, and possibly longer. Launching the project would have increased the total cost to more than 600 million dollars (almost 549 million euros).
“The agency has many missions planned to search for ice and other resources on the Moon over the next five years,” said Nicola Fox, deputy administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate. According to the United States space agency, “Our path forward will maximize the technology and work invested in VIPER, while maintaining critical assets to support our robust lunar portfolio.
