NASA invites the media to view full-scale testing of a prototype of the agency’s first robotic Moon rover, VIPER – short for Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover – as it practices driving off the structural test model of Astrobotic’s Griffin lunar lander at 3 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, June 28, at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley.
Engineers will test a VIPER prototype’s ability to safely descend a lunar lander ramp, one of the very first operations the rover will execute after touching down on the lunar surface next year. This testing is a critical step toward the rover’s trip to a large flat-topped mountain, Mons Mouton, situated at the Moon’s South Pole. There VIPER will investigate the abundance and distribution of ice and other volatiles. Understanding the sources and concentrations of this water will help us understand how the Moon formed and evolved and help us evaluate those resources for future Artemis explorers. This effort builds on previous egress prototype testing performed at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland last year.
Media interested in viewing the rover egress testing must RSVP by 4 p.m. Tuesday, June 27, to the Ames Office of Communications by email at arc-dl-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov or by phone at 650-604-4789.
Construction of the mission rover is underway at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, while the flight software, science operations, and navigation system development are taking place at Ames. Astrobotic will receive the complete rover with its scientific instruments in mid-2024 in preparation for launch as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative.
For more information on VIPER, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/viper/
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Hillary Smith Ames Research Center, Silicon Valley 650-604-4789 hillary.smith@nasa.gov