American space agency NASA Announced the closure of the lunar rover project VIPER (Volatile Substances Investigating Polar Exploration Vehicle)It was assumed that it would go to the South Pole of the Moon and look for water (or rather, traces of ice and volatile compounds) there.

NASA announces stoppage of work VIPERBecause further development of the project will increase costs and jeopardize other missions. $450 million has already been spent on the creation of the lunar rover. Now, in order to get at least some benefit from the project, the rover will be dismantled and its devices and components will be used for other landers.

VIPER was initially scheduled to launch in late 2023, then pushed back to later this year, then all the way to fall 2025. The Griffin spacecraft, built by Astrobotic, the same company that created the Peregrine lander that never made it to the moon, was planned to go to the moon. Now NASA has said that the Griffin launch will still happen even without VIPER. It will showcase the capabilities of the new lander.