Dec 15, 2024 10:31 PM
You have to interpret "the lander" in the last sentence as "a [different] lander" in order to make any sense out of the statement. But it's not clear what a "different lander" would even be. Another attempt with the CubeRover?
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NASA has a lunar rover ready to go to the Moon, but it's cancelled
https://pubs.aip.org/physicstoday/online...unar-rover
INTRO: NASA had planned to land the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) at the Moon’s south pole in late 2025 to probe water abundance and distribution. But, citing ballooning costs, the agency canceled the mission in July 2024.
The decision came as a shock to many researchers in the lunar science community who believe that VIPER is essential for NASA’s future Artemis missions, which are intended to establish a long-term human presence on the Moon. What’s more, the rover is ready for launch. VIPER will be stripped for parts unless NASA makes a last-minute save. After receiving researchers’ appeals to reconsider and questions from Congress, the agency plans to make a decision in early 2025 about what will happen to the rover.
[...] NASA has spent about $450 million building the rover, some $200 million more than projected. And overall funding is tight in 2024: Congress cut NASA’s budget to $24.875 billion, a 2% cut from 2023. In a July press release, NASA said that continuing VIPER would result in delays to or cancellations of other projects.
NASA will save $84 million because it no longer needs to conduct final testing of the rover. The agency has historically pushed ahead with missions that are this far along, Dove says, but lately, the agency “has been coming down harder on missions going over budget.”
Astrobotic Technology, a space robotics company, has a separate $323 million contract with NASA to construct the lander. The agency will still launch that lander as a technology demonstration even without VIPER on board... (MORE - details)
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NASA has a lunar rover ready to go to the Moon, but it's cancelled
https://pubs.aip.org/physicstoday/online...unar-rover
INTRO: NASA had planned to land the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) at the Moon’s south pole in late 2025 to probe water abundance and distribution. But, citing ballooning costs, the agency canceled the mission in July 2024.
The decision came as a shock to many researchers in the lunar science community who believe that VIPER is essential for NASA’s future Artemis missions, which are intended to establish a long-term human presence on the Moon. What’s more, the rover is ready for launch. VIPER will be stripped for parts unless NASA makes a last-minute save. After receiving researchers’ appeals to reconsider and questions from Congress, the agency plans to make a decision in early 2025 about what will happen to the rover.
[...] NASA has spent about $450 million building the rover, some $200 million more than projected. And overall funding is tight in 2024: Congress cut NASA’s budget to $24.875 billion, a 2% cut from 2023. In a July press release, NASA said that continuing VIPER would result in delays to or cancellations of other projects.
NASA will save $84 million because it no longer needs to conduct final testing of the rover. The agency has historically pushed ahead with missions that are this far along, Dove says, but lately, the agency “has been coming down harder on missions going over budget.”
Astrobotic Technology, a space robotics company, has a separate $323 million contract with NASA to construct the lander. The agency will still launch that lander as a technology demonstration even without VIPER on board... (MORE - details)