NASA cancels $450M Viper moon mission, dashing ice prospecting dreams

Quick Summary:

NASA has cancelled a $450 million program to map water ice deposits on the moon after cost overruns and scheduling delays.

As a result, NASA will save around $84 million in development costs, officials said during a press conference Wednesday, though the agency has already spent $450 million on the program.

NASA officials wanted to send Viper into the moon’s permanently shadowed regions, which are some of the coldest areas of the solar system, and operate it in near-real time from Earth relying, in some areas, on only computer simulations for navigation.

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Article Details

Author / Journalist: Aria Alamalhodaei

Category: Technology

Markets: United StatesIsraelItaly

Topics: First Moon Mission Nasa Year Lander Program Lunar Rover Viper Water

Source Website Secure: Yes (HTTPS)

News Sentiment: Neutral

Fact Checked: Legitimate

Article Type: News Report

Published On: 2024-07-18 @ 14:21:25 (13 hours ago)

News Timezone: GMT -5:00

News Source URL: techcrunch.com

Language: English

Article Length: 1244 words

Reading Time: 7 minutes read

Sentences: 55 lines

Sentence Length: 23 words per sentence (average)

Platforms: Desktop Web, Mobile Web, iOS App, Android App

Copyright Owner: © TechCrunch

News ID: 21675125

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