If a project is cancelled after spending billions of rupees on it, people will surely feel bad. The US Congress has cancelled a similar project of the space agency NASA. But the reason for this is also special. This mission named Viper was going to send a rover to the moon by the year 2023, whose purpose was to search for water or ice on the moon. But this mission was now postponed and was going to be completed by 2025.
What was this mission?
The discovery of water (or ice) on the Moon is of interest to scientists around the world. This is because water could be used as a potential fuel for future space missions, effectively creating a fuel station for spacecraft on the Moon. Pursuing this idea, NASA launched its Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) mission, which aimed to map the ice on the Moon’s south pole and then drill into the surface.
Now, according to reports, NASA has cancelled the project on July 17, citing cost and delay concerns. NASA has spent more than Rs 48 billion 66 crore 60 lakh on this mission. A rover, which the agency planned to use in the mission, has already been assembled and the construction of the lander was underway.
NASA’s Viper mission was being prepared to find water on the Moon. (Symbolic picture: Wikimedia Commons)
Now, NASA says it is looking for potential buyers for the rover, which could be used in lunar exploration missions. “This was a really difficult decision that we made in an uncertain budget environment,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.
New estimates suggest the mission will require another $176 million and will only be ready for launch by the end of 2025. NASA’s search for water on the Moon continues Despite the closure of the VIPER project, NASA is not going to stop its ongoing search for water on the Moon.
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FIRST PUBLISHED : July 20, 2024, 14:03 IST