Live coverage: Soyuz crew lands in Kazakhstan

One of five CubeSats deployed from the International Space Station last month is testing a steerable drag brake that could find use in future smallsats to return experiment samples to the ground from low Earth orbit, or on low-cost micro-probes to explore other planets.

The capture came after Northrop Grumman engineers adjusted the sensitivity of main engine fault detection software that prematurely triggered shut downs during two rendezvous thruster firings Tuesday.

Much of the rover was complete and it was going through a series of testing when the project was scrapped. NASA said Astrobotic’s Griffin lander, which was supposed to carry VIPER to the Moon’s South Pole, will still proceed with its mission.