Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover: mission and targets

Project start

January 1, 2025

Declared end

January 1, 2025

The start the archive declares is the start of the project, not the launch, and an end it does not declare does not mean the mission is still running.

Targets you can open in 3D:

• Moon

A declared target is what the archive files the mission’s data under, not a record of observation.

The VIPER mission, short for Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, is a NASA initiative designed to explore the Moon's south pole. This robotic rover aims to locate and analyze water ice and other resources trapped in the lunar soil. By studying these materials, VIPER plans to help scientists understand the distribution, composition, and accessibility of lunar resources, which could support future human exploration. VIPER will operate in some of the coldest and darkest regions of the Moon, known as permanently shadowed craters, where water ice has been preserved for billions of years. The rover is about the size of a golf cart and is designed to traverse several miles during its original 100-day mission. The VIPER mission faced delays due to a combination of factors, including the need for additional preflight testing and supply chain challenges. Initially planned for a late 2023 launch, the mission was postponed to late 2024 to allow more time for testing the Astrobotic Griffin lander, which was to carry the rover. However, further delays pushed the readiness date to September 2025. NASA ultimately decided to cancel the mission in 2024, citing potential risks to other lunar exploration programs.

Quoted in English, as the archive publishes it, read on October 4, 2026.

Identifier in the archive, which is its citation: urn:nasa:pds:context:investigation:mission.viper

NASA Planetary Data System, PDS Registry, investigation context products. Dates and targets read on September 29, 2026; how to cite the archive: https://pds.nasa.gov/datastandards/citing/

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