VIPER – Spaceflight Now

NASA cancels half-billion dollar water-ice-seeking VIPER Moon rover

July 18, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

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.

Astrobotic selects SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy to launch robotic lunar lander

April 13, 2021 Stephen Clark

A commercial lunar lander built by Astrobotic will launch from the Kennedy Space Center on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket in late 2023 to deliver a water-hunting NASA rover to the moon’s south pole, officials announced Tuesday.

NASA’s VIPER rover in development for scouting mission to moon’s south pole

October 30, 2019 Stephen Clark

Building on a mission canceled last year, NASA is developing a mobile robot named VIPER for launch in 2022 to scout for water ice at the moon’s south pole, the same region where the agency aims to land astronauts by 2024.