Why the lunar rover mission is vital for future space exploration

NASA has finally decided where VIPER will land on the Moon.

VIPER – the Volatile Investigating Polar Exploration Rover – is a robotic mission designed to search for frozen water and other resources on the lunar surface.

On Monday, NASA announced that the VIPER autonomous vehicle – which is roughly the size of a golf cart – will land near the western edge of Nobile Crater at the Lunar South Pole in 2023. It will spend at least 100 days exploring several lunar environments. in this mountainous region.

The VIPER mission is part of NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to bring humans back to the moon by 2024, and the recognition VIPER provides during its time at the lunar south pole could be crucial to these efforts.

VIPER should advance our understanding of the formation and evolution of the Moon. This could inform future crewed Artemis missions, as water is both essential for long-term human occupation and a potential source of practical items in space, such as rocket fuel. Lunar ice is one of the resources sought by VIPER.

“We are looking for answers to some pretty complex questions and studying these resources on the Moon that have stood the test of time will help us to answer them,” Anthony Colaprete, principal scientist of the VIPER project, said in a statement. Press.

What’s new – The VIPER mission has been targeting the South Pole of the Moon since VIPER’s inception in 2019, but exactly where the rover should land to do the best science has been the subject of extensive and meticulous research.

While the area west of the Nobile crater is mountainous, NASA has determined that it is accessible by the rover – and will also provide access to small craters of scientific interest nearby.

Scientists from the VIPER team have already planned the 10- to 15-mile route during the rover’s 100-day mission. This route includes stops for at least six landmarks as well as solar recharge and warming stops – the soils of some of the area’s craters, cast in permanent shadow, can measure negative cold of 414 degrees Fahrenheit.

Why is the VIPER landing site important?

The south pole of the Moon is already well mapped thanks to past NASA missions like the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Evidence suggests that it offers a completely different landscape compared to the equatorial landing sites of the Apollo missions.

But aerial mapping is only a small piece of the pie. Regarding surface exploration, VIPER will plot new territory around the Nobile crater.

NASA orbital missions suggest that the Moon’s south pole contains water ice, especially in the deep, permanent shadows of some mountains and craters. Such water could contain information from the depths of the moon’s past, making it a prime target for lunar scientists.

VIPER will help map and detail water and other resources that could be used by future Artemis crew missions, who will also explore the South Polar region.

What is VIPER?

A decidedly non-serpentine vehicle despite its mission acronym, VIPER is a four-wheeled rover wrapped in gold foil and packed with tools.

VIPER will chase groundwater using a neutron mass spectrometer, then drill up to a meter below the lunar regolith to collect samples using its regolith and ice drill to explore new land, or TRIDENT.

To analyze the samples and detect if they contain water, VIPER also contains the Lunar Operations Observation Mass Spectrometer (MSolo) and the Near Infrared Volatility Spectrometer System.

Are there any other rovers on the moon?

VIPER could share the Moon with a few roommates when it lands.

Currently, the only rover operating on the moon is the Chinese rover Yutu-2, which has been exploring the far side of the moon since January 2019.

But other rover missions can beat VIPER on the Moon if launched as intended, including:

Both are expected to launch in 2022.

When will VIPER be launched?

If all goes according to plan, VIPER will be launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket in November 2023.

The launch is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, which contracts with commercial space companies to send vehicles to the moon in search of resources. VIPER will be delivered to the lunar surface by the Giffin Lander manufactured by Astrobotic Technologies.