NASA’s VIPER — short for the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover — sits assembled inside the cleanroom at the agency’s Johnson Space Center.
NASA’s ice-hunting VIPER rover could fly to the moon after all — with some help from the private sector.
The agency announced on Monday (Feb. 3) that it’s seeking proposals from U.S. companies to partner on VIPER, whose original incarnation as a $450 million NASA mission came to an end last summer due to budget concerns.