NASA Cancels $600 Million VIPER Lunar Rover, Fully Assembled, Amid Budget Strains; $800 Million Replacement Planned

Via @sciam: NASA seeks to cancel VIPER, a potentially revolutionary lunar rover. Instead, the agency now plans to launch literal deadweight in its place, for a total cost of about $800 million. Scientists are understandably outraged. By @michaelgreshko https://t.co/3v0BYh5RSX

NASA’s announcement that it would kill its $600 million VIPER lunar rover, even after it had been fully assembled, shows how the agency’s budget for planetary science has been strained to the breaking point. https://t.co/Thk1h8vvg5

At the rate @NASA SMD science is being cancelled, when #Artemis crews eventually land on the Moon there will only be 'flags and footprints' tasks left on their checklist #NASA needs an exploration policy that restores balance and gives astronaut some real science to do offworld. https://t.co/ArR1lBwPpT