Plans to look for ice on the moon with the help of a special rover have been scrapped due to supply chain delays and other issues, NASA announced this week.
“Following a comprehensive internal review, NASA announced Wednesday its intent to discontinue development of its VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) project,” said the space agency in a Wednesday press release. It cited cost increases, past delays and risks of future cost growth as its reasons for discontinuing the project.
VIPER was designed to search the moon for potential resources as part of “NASA’s commitment to study the Moon and help unravel some of the greatest mysteries of our solar system,” which includes other projects such as the Artemis missions.
Initially, the VIPER rover was expected to launch late last year. However, schedule and supply chain issues plagued the project. First it was pushed to late this year so NASA could do more pre-flight testing of the …