Tag: VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover)

NASA Explores Industry, Partner Interest in Using VIPER Moon Rover

NeRD

2 min read NASA Explores Industry, Partner Interest in Using VIPER Moon Rover NASA’s VIPER robotic Moon rover is seen here in a clean room at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA/Helen Arase Vargas As part of its commitment to a robust, sustainable lunar exploration program for the benefit of all, NASA issued a Request for Information Friday to seek interest from American companies and institutions in conducting a mission using the agency’s VIPER Moon rover. VIPER, short for Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, was designed to map the…

Read More

Mission Manager Update: VIPER Rover Approved to Move into Environmental Testing!

NeRD

Engineers test the VIPER rover’s wheel movement and rotation in a clean room at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA/Helen Arase Vargas While NASA’s VIPER team has been focused on building the flight rover that will go to the South Pole of the Moon, the team has also been making preparations for environmental testing of the rover.  In April, the VIPER team passed a System Test Readiness Review, exploring the readiness of the facilities, procedures, and staff to move into stress-testing the VIPER rover. These environmental tests are important…

Read More

Luxembourg Leaders Focus on Lunar Exploration at Visit to NASA Ames

NeRD

Using the Lunar Lab and Regolith Testbeds at NASA’s Ames Research Center, a team created this simulated lunar environment to study lighting conditions experienced at the unexplored poles of the Moon.  NASA/Uland Wong The challenges of working on the surface of the Moon are at the center of a facility at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. The Lunar Lab and Regolith Testbeds help scientists and engineers – from NASA and industry alike – study how well science instruments, robots, and people might be able to safely work,…

Read More

Into the Belly of the Rover: VIPER’s Final Science Instrument Installed 

NeRD

A team of engineers prepares to integrate TRIDENT – short for The Regolith Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain – into the belly of NASA’s first robotic Moon rover, VIPER – short for the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover. NASA/Bill Stafford A team of engineers prepares to integrate TRIDENT – short for The Regolith Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain – into the belly of NASA’s first robotic Moon rover, VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover).  TRIDENT, designed and developed by engineers at Honeybee Robotics in Altadena, California, is the fourth and…

Read More

Mission Manager Update: VIPER Flight Rover Half-Built!

NeRD

The VIPER team is hard at work building the flight vehicle that will be going to the surface of the Moon this time next year! In fact, we’re about halfway through the build, and you can interactively watch the process and hear from experts on the team, in various livestreams throughout the process. All the science instrument teams have delivered their payloads to the VIPER Systems Integration & Test team, which will install them into the actual flight rover; in fact, all but one is already installed! This was a huge milestone…

Read More

Mira cómo la NASA construye su primer vehículo lunar robótico

NeRD

Ingenieros y técnicos ensamblan y ponen a prueba el primer vehículo lunar robótico de la NASA en una sala limpia del Centro Espacial Johnson de la NASA en Houston. NASA/Robert Markowitz El público tendrá un asiento de primera fila y en directo para ver cómo el primer rover lunar robótico de la NASA cobra forma en la sala limpia de la Instalación de Pruebas de Integración de Segmentos de Superficie en el Centro Espacial Johnson de la agencia en Houston. Los integrantes de la misión del Vehículo de Exploración Polar…

Read More

Watch NASA Build Its First Robotic Moon Rover

NeRD

Engineers assemble and test NASA’s first robotic Moon rover in a clean room at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA/Robert Markowitz The public now has a live, front row seat to see NASA’s first robotic Moon rover take shape in the Surface Segment Integration and Testing Facility clean room at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Members of VIPER — short for the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover — and the Office of Communications at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, will host watch parties and answer questions…

Read More

All Together Now: Drill Joins Other Moon Rover Science Instruments

NeRD

A team of engineers from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and Honeybee Robotics in Altadena, California inspect TRIDENT – short for The Regolith Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain – shortly after its arrival at the integration and test facility. NASA/Robert Markowitz A team of engineers from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and Honeybee Robotics in Altadena, California, inspect TRIDENT – short for The Regolith Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain – shortly after its arrival at the integration and test facility. In the coming months, the team…

Read More