NASA tests VIPER rover's 'moon shimmy' in conditions that mimic the lunar surface before it heads to space in 2022
- NASA shared a video of its VIPER rover doing the 'moon shimmy' in a lab
- It rolled over a soil bin allowing scientist to see how it will fare on the moon
- The rover will land at the south pole of the moon where it will look for water ice
- VIPER is set to launch by December 2022, two years before the Artemis mission
NASA's water hunting rover is on the move.
The American space is testing its VIPER rove, which is set to land on the moon in 2022, in conditions that mimic the lunar surface.
The golf cart-sized machine practiced its 'moon shimmy' at the Glenn Research Center's Simulated Lunar Operations Laboratory (SLOPE), which it rolled over a large soil bin allowing scientist to see how it will fare on the moon.
Viper stands for Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover and is set for the lunar south pole in search for water and ice.
And it will land in the exact spot the first woman and next man are expected to hit in the Artemis mission in 2024.
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VIPER practiced its 'moon shimmy' at the Glenn Research Center's Simulated Lunar Operations Laboratory (SLOPE), which it rolled over a large soil bin allowing scientist to see how it will fare on the moon
'Test data will be used to evaluate the traction of the vehicle and wheels, determine the power requirements for a variety of maneuvers and compare methods of traversing steep slopes,' NASA said in a statement Monday.
The American space agency first announced the new lunar rover last year in October, which will launch by December 2022.
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Once VIPER lands on the moon, it will spend approximately 100 days collecting data designed to map potential water sources.
Daniel Andrews, the project manager of the VIPER mission and director of engineering at NASA's Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, said: 'The key to living on the Moon is water -- the same as here on Earth.'
Viper stands for Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover and is set for the lunar south pole in search for water and ice. And it will land in the exact spot the first woman and next man are expected to hit in the Artemis mission in 2024
'Since the confirmation of lunar water-ice ten years ago, the question now is if the Moon could really contain the amount of resources we need to live off-world.'
'This rover will help us answer the many questions we have about where the water is, and how much there is for us to use.'
According to researchers from UCLA who recently published a paper in Nature Geoscience, water-ice may be locked deep within the lunar surface, and could even be large enough to support future human settlements.
That water-ice may congregate in the moon's polar regions since, like Mercury, it spins on small axis compared to the Earth.
Once VIPER lands on the moon, it will spend approximately 100 days collecting data designed to map potential water sources
As a result, the moon's polar regions never see the sun and experiences some of the coldest temperatures in our solar system.
Scientists hope that water on the moon's surface will help NASA develop a long term presence.
The agency's ongoing Artemis program looks to establish a permanent base on the moon that could facilitate mining operations and also help turn it into a launching point for future space missions.
NASA will land the first woman and first person of color on the moon in 2025 as part of the Artemis mission
Artemis was the twin sister of Apollo and goddess of the moon in Greek mythology.
NASA has chosen her to personify its path back to the moon, which will see astronauts return to the lunar surface by 2025 - including the first woman and the next man.
Artemis 1, formerly Exploration Mission-1, is the first in a series of increasingly complex missions that will enable human exploration to the moon and Mars.
Artemis 1 will be the first integrated flight test of NASA’s deep space exploration system: the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the ground systems at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Artemis 1 will be an uncrewed flight that will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration, and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human existence to the moon and beyond.
During this flight, the spacecraft will launch on the most powerful rocket in the world and fly farther than any spacecraft built for humans has ever flown.
It will travel 280,000 miles (450,600 km) from Earth, thousands of miles beyond the moon over the course of about a three-week mission.
Artemis 1, formerly Exploration Mission-1, is the first in a series of increasingly complex missions that will enable human exploration to the moon and Mars. This graphic explains the various stages of the mission
Orion will stay in space longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before.
With this first exploration mission, NASA is leading the next steps of human exploration into deep space where astronauts will build and begin testing the systems near the moon needed for lunar surface missions and exploration to other destinations farther from Earth, including Mars.
The will take crew on a different trajectory and test Orion’s critical systems with humans aboard.
Together, Orion, SLS and the ground systems at Kennedy will be able to meet the most challenging crew and cargo mission needs in deep space.
Eventually NASA seeks to establish a sustainable human presence on the moon by 2028 as a result of the Artemis mission.
The space agency hopes this colony will uncover new scientific discoveries, demonstrate new technological advancements and lay the foundation for private companies to build a lunar economy.
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