From NASA.gov: NASA is sending a mobile robot to the South Pole of the Moon to get a close-up view of the location and concentration of 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.听
About the size of a golf cart, the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER, will roam several miles, using its four science instruments 鈥� including a 1-meter drill 鈥� to sample various soil environments. Planned for delivery to the lunar surface in December 2022, VIPER will collect about 100 days of data that will be used to inform the first global water resource maps of the Moon.听
鈥淭he key to living on the Moon is water 鈥� the same as here on Earth,鈥� said Daniel Andrews, the project manager of the VIPER mission and director of engineering at NASA鈥檚 Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley. 鈥淪ince 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.鈥澨�
NASA's Artemis program begins a new era where robots and humans working together will push the boundaries of what鈥檚 possible in space exploration. In collaboration with commercial and international partners, NASA鈥檚 ambition is to achieve a long-term sustainable presence on the Moon 鈥� enabling humans to go on to Mars and beyond.