VIPER back from the dead? NASA asks US companies to partner on ice-hunting moon rover
NASA's VIPER — short for the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover — sits assembled inside the cleanroom at the agency's Johnson Space Center.
(Image credit: NASA)
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."Moving forward with a VIPER partnership offers NASA a unique opportunity to engage with the private sector," Nicky Fox, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said in a statement. "Such a partnership provides the opportunity for NASA to collect VIPER science that could tell u...