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SpaceRadar | Rover Details

VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover)

ROVER MASS

Peak power - 450 W.
Once it enters a permanently shadowed location, it will operate on battery power alone and will not be able to recharge them until it drives to a sunlit area.

ROVER DIMENSIONS

Planned top speed of the rover is 0.8 km per hour

The rover can drive sideways or diagonally, spin in a circle and move in any direction without changing the way it's facing. If it encounters soft soils, it will even be able to walk its wheels by moving each wheel independently to free itself.

X-band direct-to-Earth (no relay) over the Deep Space Network

Astrobotic Technology, USA

1.5 x 1.5 x 2.5 meters

430 kg

No external payload

No external payload

Solar powered & Solar-charged rechargeable batteries

Falcon Heavy, SpaceX

ROVER MOBILITY

PAYLOAD BAY (AVAILABLE MASS)

PAYLOAD BAY SIZE

POWER SOURCE

POWER GENERATION & USAGE

POWER DISTRIBUTION (FOR PAYLOAD)

INTERFACES AVAILABLE (FOR PAYLOAD)

COMMUNICATIONS AVAILABLE

COST

LANDER COMPANY

LAUNCH VEHICLE

ROVER MANIFEST

1) Neutron Spectrometer System (NSS) 2) Near InfraRed Volatiles Spectrometer System (NIRVSS) 3) The Regolith and Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain (TRIDENT) 4) Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations (MSolo)

MISSION PLAN

NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER, is a mobile robot that will go to the South Pole of the Moon to get a close-up view of the location and concentration of water ice that could eventually be harvested to sustain human exploration on the Moon, Mars — and beyond. VIPER represents the first resource mapping mission on another celestial body. The VIPER rover will operate on the western edge of Nobile crater on the moon's south pole. It is planned to traverse several kilometers, collecting data on different kinds of soil environments affected by light and temperature — those in complete darkness, occasional light and in constant sunlight.

MISSION DURATION

Up to 100 Earth days

Last Updated on August 2024

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