$433.5 million NASA Rover 'VIPER' to Search for water, other resources on the dark side of the Moon in 2023

The US space agency has announced its first mobile robot to the Moon in late 2023. The robot that goes up with the Artemis programme will look for signs of water both over and under the surface of the Earth’s natural satellite.

Dubbed as Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER), the robot will map resources at the lunar South Pole that "could one day be harvested for long-term human exploration at the Moon," Nasa said in a statement late on Friday. VIPER is a part of the Artemis programme.

“The data received from VIPER has the potential to aid our scientists in determining precise locations and concentrations of ice on the Moon and will help us evaluate the environment and potential resources at the lunar south pole in preparation for Artemis astronauts," said Lori Glaze, director for NASA’s Planetary Science Division at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, DC.

“This is yet another example of how robotic science missions and human exploration go hand in hand, and why both are necessary as we prepare to establish a sustainable presence on the Moon," Glaze added.

Nasa aims to explore the dark side of the moon in search of critical water molecules and other sustaining minerals and resources. The rover will explore lunar craters using a specialised set of wheels and suspension system to cover a variety of inclines and soil types.

Nasa had in June 2020, awarded the $199.5 million contract to Astrobotic to launch, transit, and deliver the water-hunting rover to the Moon.

The rover’s design significantly enhances upon a former robotic concept to prospect the Moon called Resource Prospector, which NASA cancelled in early 2018.

Since then, the VIPER mission duration was extended from one to three lunar days (100 Earth days). VIPER has evolved to increase its science capabilities, enabling more data collection at the lunar surface, NASA said.

During its 100-Earth-day mission, the VIPER rover will roam several miles and use its four science instruments to sample various soil environments. The rover will explore lunar craters using a specialised set of wheels and a suspension system to cover a variety of inclines and soil types.

It will operate in the permanently shadowed regions of the Moon that haven’t seen sunlight in billions of years and are some of the coldest spots in the solar system.

The four scientific instruments onboard rover will include the Regolith and Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrains (TRIDENT) hammer drill, the Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations (MSolo) instrument, the Near-Infrared Volatiles Spectrometer System (NIRVSS), and the Neutron Spectrometer System (NSS).

Nasa recently approved the development phase of the rover after it completed the formulation stage with an operational cost of $433.5 million.

Running on solar power, VIPER will need to quickly manoeuvre around the extreme swings in light and dark at the lunar South Pole.

“VIPER will be the most capable robot NASA has ever sent to the lunar surface and allow us to explore parts of the Moon we’ve never seen," said Sarah Noble, programme scientist for VIPER at NASA Headquarters.

Throughout the Artemis programme, NASA will send robots and humans to explore more of the Moon than ever before.