NASA Sunsets Surprising Moon Mission

NASA's Viper mission is being discontinued.

By Adam Barnhardt

NASA is discontinuing one of its most anticipated lunar programs. Wednesday, officials with the space agency revealed the VIPER project—or Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover—would immediately be shuttered. Citing increased costs, continued delays, and anticipated further costs in the future, NASA says it will now piece out the rover and use what it can on other missions. VIPER was initially supposed to launch in the closing moments of 2023, but it was delayed to 2025 so researchers with the project could continue more testing.

"We are committed to studying and exploring the Moon for the benefit of humanity through the CLPS program," Nicola Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, offered in a press release. "The agency has an array of missions planned to look for ice and other resources on the Moon over the next five years. 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."

What's NASA's largest active mission?

Arguably NASA's largest focus has been the Artemis program, which will see astronauts return to the lunar surface for the first time since 1972. The first mission of NASA's extensive new Artemis program, the Artemis I mission was uncrewed so as to test the capabilities of NASA's current technologies before sending astronauts back into deep space. According to Artemis I mission manager Mike Sarafin, the flight of Orion was an objective success.

"Orion has returned from the Moon and is safely back on planet Earth," Sarafin added. "With splashdown we have successfully operated Orion in the deep space environment, where it exceeded our expectations, and demonstrated that Orion can withstand the extreme conditions of returning through Earth's atmosphere from lunar velocities."

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Barring any major changes, Artemis II will then send an astronaut crew on the same flight path of Artemis I before Artemis III sees astronauts return to the moon for the first time since 1972. Artemis II is set to launch no earlier than September 2025.

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