NASA cancels $450 million VIPER moon rover due to budget concerns

[Admin]

NASA announced it has ended the VIPER rover project, which was intended to explore the moon in search of ice near the lunar south pole.

NASA cancels $450 million VIPER moon rover due to budget concerns : Read more

 

[Unclear Engineer]

This is disappointing.

The U.S. seems to be cutting back on space technology in multiple ways. China will definitely pick up the slack, and other countries will see it to their advantage to quit Artemis and sign-on to China's space station and moon landing and probably moon base projects.

If U.S. private/commercial projects don't keep up with China, the U.S. will soon be considered "second rate" in space technology.

The thing that really hurts is that this budget problem is mainly due to the interest payments on the U.S. national debt. See , https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/national-debt/ which states:
"As of June 2024 it costs $868 billion to maintain the debt, which is 17% of the total federal spending in fiscal year 2024."

In effect, all of those "stimulus" and "debt forgiveness" programs are taking the money out of the U.S. space program. And, that is happening under both political parties, often with "bipartisan" support of the bills doing it.

 

[George²]

This is disappointing.

The U.S. seems to be cutting back on space technology in multiple ways. China will definitely pick up the slack, and other countries will see it to their advantage to quit Artemis and sign-on to China's space station and moon landing and probably moon base projects.

If U.S. private/commercial projects don't keep up with China, the U.S. will soon be considered "second rate" in space technology.

The thing that really hurts is that this budget problem is mainly due to the interest payments on the U.S. national debt. See , https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/national-debt/ which states:
"As of June 2024 it costs $868 billion to maintain the debt, which is 17% of the total federal spending in fiscal year 2024."

In effect, all of those "stimulus" and "debt forgiveness" programs are taking the money out of the U.S. space program. And, that is happening under both political parties, often with "bipartisan" support of the bills doing it.

I never managed to read the reasons for such a significant cost overrun for this small self-propelled vehicle.

 

[ChrisA]

So that spent $450 million and only needed $85M to finish the project. Then, to save money they toss the $450M in the trash.

They waste $450M to save $85M. ONLY the government would even concider such a stupid plan.

 

[Barsoom]

Perhaps NASA ought to be considering the ASTROLAB rover with respect to its ability to perform on that contract. It’s still dependent on private sector funding.

 

[Barsoom]

So that spent $450 million and only needed $85M to finish the project. Then, to save money they toss the $450M in the trash.

They waste $450M to save $85M. ONLY the government would even concider such a stupid plan.

Perhaps NASA ought to be considering the ASTROLAB rover with respect to its ability to perform on that contract. It’s still dependent on private sector funding which = risk

 

[Unclear Engineer]

The article says that the "launch costs" for the VIPER were not included in the $85M "saved" by cancelling the project.

It would be helpful to know what the additional costs were besides those covered by the $85M.

 

[George²]

It would be helpful to know what the additional costs

Insurance?

 

[WhatNoTurkey]

They're scraping up money to spend on other priorities. We ought to defund other projects, maybe artistic ones instead of scientific ones. We all have to prioritize and economize.

 

[Unclear Engineer]

From that "other website", here is the answer to my question about what other costs were saved or potentially saved:

"The rover is now complete, but is only now starting environmental testing. Kearns said the revised cost and schedule assumed that VIPER would get through that environmental testing without any problems. “I will you tell you that in general, spacecraft development system-level environmental testing does uncover problems that do need to be corrected, which would take more time and money.”

"Canceling VIPER now will save NASA a minimum of $84 million. That could grow, he said, if VIPER’s launch were to slip beyond November 2025, which would require waiting 9 to 12 months until the right lighting conditions return at the landing site in the polar region."

A lot of the cost overruns were attributed to delays in getting components due to the COVID pandemic disruptions.