28 April, 2025
Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) Mission
Fri 19 Jul, 2024
Context
- The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has cancelled the $450 million VIPER mission to search for water on the Moon's south pole.
Key Highlights
- NASA cited delays in the launch date and the risk of future cost overruns as reasons for postponing the mission.
- NASA had previously requested a launch delay until late 2024 to provide more time for preflight testing.
- NASA is also planning to dismantle and reuse VIPER's instruments and components for future lunar missions.
VIPER Mission
- Landing site: 'Mons Mouton' (South Pole of the Moon)
- Objective: To map the location of water and other potential resources
India's lunar mission
Chandrayaan-1 |
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Chandrayaan-2 |
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Chandrayaan-3 |
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Chandrayaan-4 |
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Other lunar missions of the world
Apollo Mission Capstone Satellite Artemis Mission Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter |
United States of America |
Queqiao-2 Lunar-Oscar-94 Chang'e Mission |
China |
Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) mission |
Japan |
Luna 25 |
Russia |
KPLO |
South Korea |