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New moon rover tested in Lunar Operations Lab
by Staff Writers
Cleveland OH (SPX) Jan 14, 2020

The Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER)

An engineering model of the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER, is tested in the Simulated Lunar Operations Laboratory at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio.

About the size of a golf cart, VIPER is a mobile robot that will roam around the Moon's South Pole looking for water ice in the region and for the first time ever, actually sample the water ice at the same pole where the first woman and next man will land in 2024 under the Artemis program.

The large, adjustable soil bin contains lunar simulant and allows engineers to mimic the Moon's terrain. Engineers from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, where the rover was designed and built, joined the Glenn team to complete the tests.

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. Respirators are worn by researchers to protect against the airborne silica that is present during testing.

VIPER is a collaboration within and beyond the agency. NASA's Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley is managing the project, leading the mission's science, systems engineering, real-time rover surface operations and software. The rover's instruments are provided by Ames, NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and commercial partner, Honeybee Robotics in California.

The spacecraft, lander and launch vehicle that will deliver VIPER to the surface of the Moon will be provided through NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, delivering science and technology payloads to and near the Moon.


Related Links
Simulated Lunar Operations Laboratory
Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com
Lunar Dreams and more


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MOON DAILY
China's lunar rover travels over 357 meters on moon's far side
Beijing (XNA) Jan 06, 2020
China's lunar rover Yutu-2 has driven 357.695 meters on the far side of the moon to conduct scientific exploration of the virgin territory. Both the lander and the rover of the Chang'e-4 probe have ended their work for the 13th lunar day on Thursday (Beijing time), and switched to dormant mode for the lunar night, according to the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration. The scientific instruments on the lander and rover worked as planned. The ro ... read more

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