Cancellation of NASA’s VIPER Mission and Future Plans

Nasa’s Cancellation of the VIPER Mission

In mid-July, NASA announced the cancellation of the VIPER mission aimed at the Moon. This project, which has cost a total of $450 million to date, was designed to map the location and density of icy resources found at the Moon’s South Pole.

Despite not encountering major issues, the project had to be canceled due to NASA’s depleted budget. Terminating the VIPER mission provided NASA with an opportunity to save $84 million. However, VIPER, which stands for Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, still has the potential to study the Moon’s surface. Following the announcement, NASA stated that it is ready to offer the VIPER exploration vehicle to an interested partner.

Search for Partners and Goals

So, who will this partner be? NASA issued a Request for Information to explore American companies that could carry out this mission using the agency’s exploration vehicle. Additionally, it announced that it would evaluate interest from the international community.

With the understanding of the robot is ours, the launch is yours, NASA wants to learn more about how interested parties will use the VIPER at minimal or no cost to the government. In other words, it expects organizations such as the European Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or businesspeople like Elon Musk to take the vehicle and send it to the Moon. However, it does not want to pay any cost for this; at the same time, it requests that the data obtained from the project be shared with it. This is because they intend to donate a $450 million robot to the other party.

Elon Musk and Future Plans

So, why would businesspeople like Musk accept this offer? Because if NASA discovers water resources on the Moon, the establishment of a base in those areas will come into question. And guess who will transport materials to the Moon and land and take off astronauts while this base is being established? Yes, the right answer is Galactic Conqueror Elon Musk. This situation presents a significant opportunity for Musk and could open the doors to a new era in space exploration.