NASA is selling a brand new moon rover

So, scientists were somewhat confused in July when the agency canceled its nearly complete Volatile Investigation Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER), designed to look for this ice, and instead offered it to commercial companies. “It’s all a little strange,” says planetary scientist Benjamin Fernando of Johns Hopkins University.

A rover approximately the size of a Fiat 500 has already been built. It is undergoing final testing at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston ahead of a planned launch next year on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, carried by a lander built by Pennsylvania-based firm Astrobotic, for which NASA has already paid. In recent years, such outsourcing has been characteristic of NASA’s new approach to lunar exploration, in which it purchases landers and launchers from private companies rather than building its own. However, never before had the agency handed over almost its entire mission to a private company.

One of VIPER’s main instruments is a drill, designed to dig through ice up to a meter beneath the lunar surface. VIPER was designed to deploy this drill into certain craters on the Moon’s south pole, which never see direct sunlight due to the configuration of the lunar orbit. The temperature at the bottom of these craters does not rise above -160 °C, and this is where previous spacecraft have observed signs of ice. However, if a rover turns up solid evidence, upcoming human lunar missions could extract the ice, possibly splitting its hydrogen atoms to make rocket fuel. NASA says that eventually, the Moon could become a refueling stop for human missions in the solar system.

High goals. Also, not surprisingly, not cheap. According to NASA, the VIPER project has cost $433 million so far, well above its initial budget of $250 million, which is more than the agency can raise money for – according to many other missions.

Instead, NASA’s proposal is that a commercial company take command of VIPER. In return, it must pay for the rover’s final tests; Find a way to land it on the Moon (possibly with a different lander); And then execute its original scientific mission. Any new owner will still be expected to reveal any findings made with the rover, but they could also use the opportunity to advance their own lunar ambitions. Eleven companies have submitted proposals so far. “There is growing interest among commercial companies in doing their own scientific missions,” says Laura Forzik, founder of Georgia-based space consulting firm Astralytical.

One of the well-known companies expressing interest is Houston-based Intuitive Machines, which is already under contract with NASA to develop a lunar communications network, among other projects. It was also the first private company to achieve a partially successful lunar landing (its spacecraft overturned), in February 2024. Another interested party, ORBITBeyond, based in New Jersey, has also been selected by NASA as a contractor for possible future Moon missions. , The companies’ exact plans for VIPER are unclear.

Given the enormous cost, NASA expects to save only $84 million by canceling VIPER. Before that can happen, Congress must approve NASA’s request to cancel the rover, a decision on which is expected in the coming months. “We want a more detailed assessment,” says a spokesperson for the House Science, Space and Technology Committee. “One of our biggest concerns is that canceling VIPER will harm our competitiveness with China,” he said. But what effect will there be?” for the ice on the Moon’s south pole.

Other missions may face the same fate as NASA and other government agencies, which are facing increasingly tight budgets. However, for those with deep pockets, bargains are available.

© 2024, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved.

From The Economist, published under license. Original content can be found at www.economist.com