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NASA isn’t shifting ahead with its VIPER program — quick for Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover — which aimed to place a rover on the far facet of the Moon to seek for water. On Wednesday, NASA cited price will increase and several other delays as its causes for canceling the undertaking.
VIPER was initially anticipated to launch on the finish of 2023. Nevertheless, NASA pushed the date to September 2025 as a result of provide chain and scheduling delays.
NASA says continued growth of VIPER would “end in an elevated price that threatens cancellation or disruption” to different missions underneath the Business Lunar Payload Companies (CLPS) program. The company has spent $450 million to develop the rover to this point, in keeping with Bloomberg. As a substitute of dedicating extra sources to the craft, it has chosen to disassemble and reuse the rover’s devices for future missions to the Moon.
“The company has an array of missions deliberate to search for ice and different sources on the Moon over the subsequent 5 years,” Nicola Fox, NASA’s affiliate administrator of the science mission directorate, stated in a press release. “Our path ahead will make most use of the expertise and work that went into VIPER, whereas preserving vital funds to help our strong lunar portfolio.”
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