Thousands of scientists have protested to the US Congress over NASA’s “unprecedented and indefensible” decision to cancel the VIPER lunar lander mission.
In an open letter to Congress, they denounced the move, which was unveiled last month, and sharply criticized the space agency over the decision that shocked astronomers and astrophysicists around the world.
The vehicle has already been built to the size of a car. At a cost of $450 million The probe was scheduled to be sent to the moon next year, where it would use a one-meter-long drill to probe for ice beneath the moon’s surface in the soil at the moon’s south pole.
Ice is a vital component of plans to build a lunar colony, not only to provide astronauts with water but also to provide hydrogen and oxygen that can be used as fuel. As a result, exploration for the resources has been identified as a priority for lunar exploration, which is set to intensify in the coming years with the goal of establishing a permanent human presence on the moon.
Construction of the Arctic-bound VIPER began several years ago, and the highly complex robotic vehicle was nearly complete when NASA announced on July 17 that it was pulling the plug on it. The agency said the move was necessary because of past cost increases, launch delays and the risk of future cost growth.
But the claim was rejected by astonished and angry scientists who said the spacecraft may have played a vital role in opening up the moon to human colonization.
“Quite frankly, the agency’s decision defies belief,” said Professor Clive Neal, a lunar scientist at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.
“The VIPER mission is essential on so many fronts, and canceling it would undermine NASA’s entire lunar exploration program for the next decade. It’s that simple. Canceling VIPER makes no sense at all.”
This view was echoed by Ben Fernando of Johns Hopkins University, who was one of the organizers of the open letter to Congress. “A team of 500 people devoted years of their professional lives to building Viber and now the project has been canceled for no good reason at all,” he said. observer Last week.
“Fortunately, I think Congress is taking this issue seriously and has the authority to tell NASA to move forward with the project. I hope Congress will step in.”
Several more water exploration missions are planned for the Moon in the next few years. However, most of these missions will involve observing the Moon’s surface from space or by landing a single drill to drill into the ice in one fixed location.
“The crucial advantage of the VIPER was that it was able to move and dig into the lunar soil at different promising locations,” said Ian Crawford, professor of planetary science and astrobiology at Birkbeck, University of London.
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Astronomers have long suspected that ice — brought by comets and asteroids — lurks in permanently shadowed craters near the moon’s south poles, an idea that received strong support in 2009 when NASA deliberately launched a Centaur rocket into the Cabeus crater.
By studying the resulting debris plumes, scientists have concluded that ice may make up as much as 5 percent of the soil there. “China, Japan, India and Europe have all made plans to look for water on the moon, but now the US seems to have given up on that. It’s very puzzling,” Crawford added.
Scientists also point out that ice and other materials brought to the moon by comets or asteroids will remain there in pristine condition and could provide scientists with a history of the inner solar system and the processes that shaped it millions or even billions of years ago. “There’s an incredible scientific treasure trove out there that’s just begging to be explored,” Neale added.
When NASA announced its decision to abandon Viper, the space agency said it planned to dismantle and reuse its components for other lunar missions — unless other companies or space agencies offered to take over the project. Since then, more than a dozen groups have expressed interest in acquiring Viper, a NASA spokesperson told Business Insider. observer Last week. But whether these organizations are interested in the Viper as a complete aircraft or as a source of components is not yet clear.
“We simply don’t know how feasible or serious these proposals are,” says Fernando. “NASA keeps saying they had to cancel projects because of budget issues, but why would they choose such an important mission to initiate these cuts?”
