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NASA – short to the flying investigator sitting in the polar crossing Rover – gathered inside the cleaning room at the Johnson Space Center at the agency. | Credit: NASA
NASA’s ice hunting snake can fly to the moon after all-with some help from the private sector.
The agency announced on Monday (February 3) that it is seeking to obtain proposals from American companies to partnership snakeWho embodies the original as NASA’s task 450 million dollars Last summer ended Because of the budget fears.
“Moving in VIPER partnership provides NASA a unique opportunity to interact with the private sector” He said in a statement. “This partnership provides an opportunity for NASA to collect snake science that can tell us more about water on the moon, with the progress of commercial lunar landing and resource purification capabilities.”
VIPER, a short “Folaatiles Investigate with Polar Explography”, is designed to search for aquatic deposits near the southern pole of the moon. NASA plans to build one or more base in that region as part of its Artemis Lunar program, and VIPER has been considered as a scout that can help assess resources that support potential life there.
Rover was supposed to reach the moon’s surface on Griffin, a company designed by Astrobotic, which is based in Pittsburgh. NASA helped arrange this ride through the Commercial Lunar Association Services Initiative (CLPS). Griffin and Viber were to be launched to the moon at some time this year.
On July 17, 2024, NASA announced that it was canceling the Viper program. Officials said this would save the agency about $ 84 million in development costs.
Viper got something of the lifeline less than a month later. On August 9, NASA released Request information From private companies, and ask whether anything might be interested in using It was already assembled Moon Rover. This new call for proposals seems to be the next step in this process.
Explain an artist for the snake in NASA to explore the moon. | Credit: NASA/Daniel Rart
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NASA officials said in a announcement on Monday that the responses to this new invitation are due by February 20. The agency will seek to obtain more detailed proposals than the companies chosen in the second round of the presentations, with the aim of making a final decision this summer.
NASA will contribute viper as it is. The chosen company will not be allowed to dismantle Rover from each other and put VIPER tools on other spacecraft.
The agency officials wrote in a statement on Monday.
“His choice of Viper SartnerSHip’s partnership would benefit any company interested in developing its capabilities to land and lunar surface operations,” said Joel Kerns, Deputy Assistant Officer for Exploration at the Science Mission Directorate.
“NASA is looking to partnership with the American industry to meet the challenges of performing the volatile science in the moon’s environment,” he added. In this case, the “volatile” water – a term for a component or boat that evaporates easily – is that the moon exploration planners are interested in it.
