NASA new rover to search for water on the moon

NASA wants to explore the moon’s mysterious South Pole, and it’s sending a new rover to do it. The VIPER will land in 2022 in search of water on the lunar surface. The Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover — or VIPER — will take samples of moon soil, looking for evidence of water-ice, NASA announced Friday. Starting in December 2022, the mobile robot will spend 100 days collecting data and sampling the water that is crucially needed for future astronauts.

NASA said the rover is about the size of a golf cart, equipped with four scientific instruments to sample a range of soil environments. Researchers plan to use the data collected to create the first water resource maps of the moon.

“The key to living on the moon is water – the same as here on Earth,” said Daniel Andrews, the project manager of the VIPER mission. “Since the confirmation of lunar water-ice ten years ago, the question now is if the moon could really contain the amount of resources we need to live off-world. This rover will help us answer the many questions we have about where the water is, and how much there is for us to use.”

 

 

NASA new rover to search for water on the moon

NASA wants to explore the moons mysterious South Pole, and its sending a new rover to do it. The VIPER will land in 2022 in search of water on the lunar surface. The Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover or VIPER will take samples of moon soil, looking for evidence of water-ice, NASA announced Friday. Starting in December 2022, the mobile robot will spend 100 days collecting data and sampling the water that is crucially needed for future astronauts. NASA said the rover is about the size of a golf cart, equipped with four scientific instruments to sample a range of soil environments. Researchers plan to use the data collected to create the first water resource maps of the moon. The key to living on the moon is water the same as here on Earth, said Daniel Andrews, the project manager of the VIPER mission. Since the confirmation of lunar water-ice ten years ago, the question now is if the moon could really contain the amount of resources we need to live off-world. This rover will help us answer the many questions we have about where the water is, and how much there is for us to use.