NASA nixes VIPER lunar rover project

July 17 (UPI) -- NASA is ending its VIPER lunar rover project created in partnership with Lockheed Martin and General Motors, the space agency announced Wednesday.

A program review by NASA showed past cost increases, launch delays and likely future costs growth have made the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover project unsustainable.

Similar issues also delayed the launch of a commercial lunar payload services vehicle aboard Astrobotic's Griffin lander.

Continuing the VIPER project at a higher projected cost potentially would disrupt or cancel the Commercial Lunar Payload Services missions, so NASA officials told Congress they will cancel the VIPER project and focus on the CLPS program.

"We are committed to studying and exploring the moon for the benefit of humanity through the CLPS program," Nicola Fox, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said Wednesday.

NASA intended to launch its VIPER rover in later 2023 but postponed it by one year to get more time for testing its Astrobotic lander.

Additional scheduling and supply chain delays moved the proposed inaugural launch to September 2025 before NASA officials chose to cancel the program.

"The agency has an array of missions planned to look for ice and other resources on the moon over the next five years," Fox said. "Our path forward will make maximum use of the technology and work that went into VIPER while preserving critical funds to support our robust lunar portfolio."

NASA will disassemble the VIPER rover and use its components and instruments for future missions to the moon.

Before proceeding with disassembling the VIPER rover, NASA officials are giving U.S. industries and international partners until Aug.1 to express any potential interest in using the VIPER rover system for missions that won't require government funding.

Meanwhile, Astrobotic is continuing its Griffin Mission One project with a launch planned in fall 2025 or at a later time to test the Griffin lander and its engines.

NASA officials will continue pursuing other ways to accomplish the VIPER's intended mission of discovering ice at the moon's south pole that might enable eventual placement of a lunar base and other goals.

A CLPS mission is planned toward the end of this year that would land at the moon's south pole to search for ice by using a drill and mass spectrometer to measure the volatile content of materials beneath the moon's surface.

NASA officials also want to send manned missions to the moon's south pole that would enable astronauts to use a lunar terrain vehicle to visually search for volatile substances in the moon's south pole region.

The astronauts also could search for ice in moon regions that are permanently in shadows, collect samples and return them to Earth for further study.