The space agency hopes the robot will confirm the presence
of water ice just below the surface, which could one day be converted into
rocket fuel for missions to Mars and deeper into the cosmos.
"Nobile Crater is an impact crater near the south pole
that was born through a collision with another smaller celestial body,"
Lori Glaze, director of NASA's planetary science division told reporters.
It is one of the solar system's coldest regions, and has
only so far been probed from afar using sensors such as those aboard NASA's
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing
Satellite.
"The rover is going to get up close and personal with
the lunar soil, even drilling several feet down," said Glazer.
The robot is called Volatiles Investigating Polar
Exploration Rover, or VIPER.
Its dimensions are similar to a golf cart - five feet by five feet by eight feet (1.5
metres by 1.5 metres by 2.5 metres) and looks somewhat similar to droids seen in
Star Wars. It weighs 950 pounds (430 kilograms).
Unlike rovers used on Mars, VIPER can be piloted in near
real time, because the distance from Earth is much shorter - only around
200,000 miles (300,000 kilometres) or 1.3 light seconds.
The rover is also faster, topping out at 0.5 mph (0.8 kph).
Solar-powered VIPER comes with a 50-hour battery, is built
to withstand extreme temperatures, and can "crab walk" sideways so
that its panels keep pointing toward the Sun to maintain charging.
In terms of the mission's scientific goals, the VIPER team
wants to know how frozen water reached the Moon in the first place, how it
remained preserved for billions of years, how it escapes and where the water
goes now.
The mission is part of Artemis, America's plan to return
humans to the Moon.
The first crewed mission is technically set for 2024, but
will likely take place significantly later as various aspects are running
behind schedule.
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