NASA details lunar rover progress for Artemis Moon Base

Key facts

• NASA's VIPER rover will launch in 2027 to the lunar South Pole region via a Blue Moon Mark 1 lander to search for water and other valuable resources inside permanently shadowed craters.
• VIPER mission operations will be managed out of NASA's Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, where teams simulate scenarios for the rover's lunar mission.
• NASA awarded task orders to Astrolab and Lunar Outpost to build the first phase of crewed lunar terrain vehicles, and awarded Blue Origin a CLPS task order to deliver them to the lunar South Pole by 2028.
• LTVs will be remotely operated from Earth to traverse up to 3.7 miles or 6 kilometers daily, mapping the lunar surface and collecting environmental data before crew arrival.