The Moon is the great objective of the NASA for the 2020s with the Artemis program that intends for the human being to step on the lunar regolith again. To achieve their purposes, the space technology being developed by agencies and private companies is very important. NASA engineers are currently working on the Volatiles Research Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER)which will be in charge of finding and studying the water ice at the South Pole of the Earth’s natural satellite.
The lunar rover weighs about 1,000 pounds (453.50 kilograms) and is being assembled at the Johnson Space Center (Houston, Texas). According to NASAits designers have already placed the bottom plate of the rober’s chassis and part of the frame. These components are “the first steps” of development, as David Petri, system integration and test leader for the rover, explains.
“Hardware is arriving from all over the world, including some made at various centers of the NASA“, Petri has pointed out. Meanwhile, the software part is developing at the Ames Research Center (California).
NASA expects VIPER to be up and running on the Luna on November 10, 2024. The choice of this date is due to the fact that would allow optimizing the amount of energy collected for use. The agency hopes that the rover’s findings will serve to organize future manned trips to the rocky satellite.
According to NASA, the information collected will be able to help “determine locations where water and other resources can be collected to support a long-term presence on the Moon.” The goal would be to set sites of moon landings for Artemis III where it is easier to establish a settlement.
With VIPER, you will go through craters that are always in the shade and cold, so you will have one by faros. In this way, it will serve to search for ice that may have been in those areas for billions of years.
Taken from 20 Minutes