Jakarta (ANTARA) – The United States Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Monday (20/9) announced that it would land an ice explorer robot or Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) in the region of the Moon’s South Pole called Nobile Crater in 2023.
The agency hopes the VIPER robot will confirm the presence of water ice just below the surface, which could one day be turned into rocket fuel for missions to Mars and further into the cosmos.
“Nobile Crater is an impact crater near the south pole that was born through a collision with another, smaller celestial body,” said Lori Glaze, director of NASA’s planetary science division.
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The south polar region of the moon is one of the coldest regions in the solar system and has only been investigated from afar using sensors such as the one in Earth Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite.
“The VIPER robot will approach and blend into the lunar soil, even drilling a few feet down,” Glazer said.
The dimensions of the robot are similar to those of a golf cart, measuring 1.5 meters by 1.5 meters by 2.5 meters and weighing 950 pounds or 430 kilograms and looks somewhat similar to the droids seen in the “Star Wars” movies.
Unlike the rover robots used on Mars, VIPER can be steered in almost real time because the distance from Earth is much shorter, at only about 200,000 miles (about 300,000 kilometers or 1.3 light-seconds). The robot is also faster, estimated to reach speeds of 0.5 mph (0.8 kph).
The solar-powered VIPER comes with a 50-hour battery, is built to withstand extreme temperatures, and can walk like a sideways crab so that its panels are constantly pointed at the sun to maintain a charge.
For the purpose of this mission, the VIPER team wanted to find out how frozen water reached the moon, how it remained preserved for billions of years, and how it got out and where it is flowing now.
The mission is part of Artemis, America’s plan to return humans to the moon. The first manned mission is technically set for 2024, but is likely to be carried out later due to various factors.
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