Uploaded October 2019 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
NASA is sending a mobile robot to the south pole of the Moon to get a close-up view of the location and concentration of water ice in the region and for the first time ever, actually sample the water ice at the same pole where the first woman and next man will land in 2024 under the Artemis program.
About the size of a golf cart, the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER, will roam several miles, using its four science instruments — including a 1-meter drill — to sample various soil environments. Planned for delivery in December 2022, VIPER will collect about 100 days of data that will be used to inform development of the first global water resource maps of the Moon.
Learn more: nasa.gov/feature/new-viper-lunar-rover-to-map-water-ice-on-the-moon
Video credit: NASA/Ames Research Center
The video may be downloaded at: images.nasa.gov/details-ARC-20191025-AAV3233-VIPERShareable-NASAWeb
NASA is sending a mobile robot to the south pole of the Moon to get a close-up view of the location and concentration of water ice in the region and for the first time ever, actually sample the water ice at the same pole where the first woman and next man will land in 2024 under the Artemis program.
About the size of a golf cart, the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER, will roam several miles, using its four science instruments — including a 1-meter drill — to sample various soil environments. Planned for delivery in December 2022, VIPER will collect about 100 days of data that will be used to inform development of the first global water resource maps of the Moon.
Learn more: nasa.gov/feature/new-viper-lunar-rover-to-map-water-ice-on-the-moon
Video credit: NASA/Ames Research Center
The video may be downloaded at: images.nasa.gov/details-ARC-20191025-AAV3233-VIPERShareable-NASAWeb
