NASA plans to send its first mobile robot, Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER), to the Moon in 2023. It will be tasked with exploring the lunar surface’s most extreme areas. The goal is to map resources found around the Moon’s South Pole, ones that astronauts may be able to harvest one day.
VIPER will be the first rover to feature headlights; they’ll be a key tool for exploring the dark regions of the Moon. The lunar surface’s permanently shadowed regions have been hidden from sunlight for billions of years, shielding mysteries and resources that humanity is only beginning to explore.
The small rover will search the Moon’s craters using four instruments, an ice drill, hammer, mass spectrometer, and near-infrared spectrometer. It has a specially-designed suspension system and wheels that will enable it to handle different types of soil and various inclines in these craters.
VIPER plays a key role in NASA’s Artemis programme, with mission programme scientist Sarah Noble explaining: “The rover will teach us about the origin and distribution of water on the Moon and prepare us to harvest resources 240,000 miles from Earth that could be used to safely send astronauts even farther into space, including Mars.”
Picture Credit : Google
