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NASA cancels VIPER moon rover due to costs and delays

NASA VIPER rover in clean room
NASA’s VIPER rover sits assembled inside the clean room at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Texas. (Credit: NASA)

NASA says it intends to discontinue development of its VIPER moon rover, due to cost increases and schedule delays — but the agency is also pointing to other opportunities for robotic exploration of the lunar south polar region.

The Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover was originally scheduled for launch in late 2023, targeting the western edge of Nobile Crater near the moon’s south pole.

The south polar region is a prime target for exploration because it’s thought to hold deposits of water ice that could sustain future lunar settlements. NASA plans to send astronauts to that region by as early as 2026 for the first crewed lunar landing since 1972.

Unfortunately, the VIPER project ran into a series of delays, due to snags in the testing and development of the rover as well as the Astrobotic Griffin lander that was to deliver the rover to the lunar surface. The readiness date for VIPER and Griffin was most recently pushed back to September 2025.

During an internal review, NASA managers decided that continuing with VIPER’s development would result in cost increases that could lead to the cancellation or disruption of other moon missions in NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, or CLPS. NASA notified Congress of its intent to discontinue development.

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Interlune tests system for processing moon soil

Maia Willebrand with Interlune hardware on parabolic airplane flight
Former Interlune intern Maia Willebrand helps test an early prototype of Interlune’s soil-processing hardware on a parabolic flight in February. Interlune funded the February flight, but a NASA grant will support future flights. (Zero Gravity Corp. Photo / Steve Boxall)

Seattle-based Interlune has received a $348,000 grant from NASA to test its system for processing lunar soil on a series of reduced-gravity airplane flights — marking one more small step toward harvesting helium-3 and other resources on the moon.

The project is one of 11 selected for funding through NASA’s TechFlights program, which supports space technology testing on suborbital rockets, rocket-powered landers or airplane-based platforms.

Interlune’s system is known as CRUMBLE — an acronym that stands for “Comminution of Regolith Using Milling for Beneficiation of Lunar Extract.” Basically, the system would break down lunar dirt and rock, or regolith, and make it easier to extract potentially valuable ingredients such as helium-3.

The TechFlights grant will fund parabolic flights provided by Zero Gravity Corp. to see which kinds of equipment would work best in the airless, reduced-gravity conditions present on the moon’s surface. Interlune would use simulated moon dirt to put prototypes for its CRUMBLE processor through their paces.

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Cosmic Space

NASA picks SpaceX to create a space station killer

Illustration: U.S. Deorbit Vehicle
An artist's conception shows SpaceX's Deorbit Vehicle in action. (Credit: SpaceX)

Spacecraft built by SpaceX have been servicing the International Space Station since 2012, and now NASA has chosen SpaceX to build the spacecraft that’ll take the station down to its doom in 2030.

The space agency announced today that SpaceX has been selected to develop and deliver the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle that will provide the capability to push the station into a fiery but controlled descent through the atmosphere. The deed will have to be done in a way that makes sure any debris falls harmlessly in an unpopulated area — for example, a remote part of the Pacific Ocean known as Point Nemo.

NASA laid out its plan for deorbiting the space station at the end of its operating life two years ago. At the time, mission planners suggested that Russian Progress supply ships or Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus cargo spacecraft might play a part in the denouement.

Today’s announcement makes clear that a SpaceX craft will take on the curtain-closing role. However, NASA will take ownership of the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle once it’s developed, and operate it through the final mission. No astronauts will be aboard the station during the robotically guided re-entry, and the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle is expected to break up along with the rest of the space station.

NASA said the single-award contract has a total potential value of $843 million. Launch service will be covered in a future procurement.

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‘Earthrise’ astronaut Bill Anders dies in plane crash

NASA astronaut Bill Anders suiting up for Apollo 8 in 1968
Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders adjlusts his helmet while suiting up for his 1968 moon mission. (NASA Photo)

Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders, who snapped the iconic “Earthrise” photo of our planet as seen from lunar orbit, died today in a plane crash in waters off the San Juan Islands.

The 90-year-old spaceflier’s son, Greg Anders, confirmed his father’s death in an interview with The Associated Press and said the family was “devastated.”

“He was a great pilot, and we will miss him terribly,” he told AP.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson paid tribute to Anders in a posting to the X social-media platform. “In 1968, during Apollo 8, Bill Anders offered to humanity among the deepest of gifts an astronaut can give,” Nelson wrote. “He traveled to the threshold of the moon and helped all of us see something else: ourselves. He embodied the lessons and the purpose of exploration. We will miss him.”

Anders is best-known around the globe as the lunar module pilot who wielded the camera during Apollo 8’s mission. But decades after that round-the-moon trip, he remained active on the Pacific Northwest aviation scene as the founder of the Heritage Flight Museum in Burlington, Wash. He and his family moved to Orcas Island in the San Juans in 1993 — and later took up residence in Anacortes, Wash.

The San Juan County Sheriff’s Office said a report came in at around 11:40 a.m. PT today that an older-model airplane plunged into the water off the coast of Jones Island as it flew from north to south. Seattle-area resident Phillip Person captured video of the crash.

San Juan County Sheriff Eric Peter said a search was conducted in cooperation with the U.S. Coast Guard, the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The Coast Guard reported that a Fish & Wildlife dive team recovered Anders’ body after more than four hours of searching.

Based on an incident report from the Federal Aviation Administration, Anders was the pilot and sole occupant of the Beechcraft T-34 Mentor aircraft. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the incident.

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Boeing’s Starliner docks with space station after a glitch

View of Starliner from International Space Station
A view from the International Space Station shows Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft during its approach for docking. (NASA via YouTube)

Boeing’s Starliner capsule and its two-person NASA crew arrived at the International Space Station today after mission managers coped with some post-launch glitches involving the spacecraft’s propulsion system.

“Today’s docking, I think, was challenging,” Steve Stich, program manager for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, told reporters after Starliner’s arrival. “We had a few things we had to work through as a team.”

One of the glitches had to do with the thrusters that are used to maneuver the gumdrop-shaped capsule in orbit. Five of the 28 thrusters initially malfunctioned — which forced NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams to put their final approach to the station on hold for more than an hour.

Four of the balky thrusters were successfully reactivated, clearing the way for the docking procedure to resume.

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Boeing’s Starliner begins its first crewed space mission

Atlas V launch with Starliner capsule
United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket lifts off from its Florida launch pad, sending Boeing’s Starliner capsule into space. (NASA via YouTube)

Two NASA astronauts were sent into space today to begin the first crewed flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, making a shakedown cruise to the International Space Station and back after years of costly setbacks and two scrubbed countdowns.

United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 10:52 a.m. ET (7:52 a.m. PT), sending Starliner and its crew — NASA’s Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams — to the International Space Station.

“Let’s get going,” Wilmore told Mission Control just before launch. “Let’s put some fire in this rocket.”

The Atlas V rose smoothly into a mostly sunny sky, and within minutes, the gumdrop-shaped capsule separated from the rocket’s Centaur upper stage to continue its rise to orbit.

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Computer scrubs crewed launch of Starliner space taxi

Atlas V rocket with Starliner space capsule
An Atlas V rocket, topped by Boeing’s Starliner space capsule, stands on its Florida launch pad. (NASA via YouTube)

For the second time in a month, the first crewed launch of Boeing’s Starliner space capsule to the International Space Station was called off while the crew members were in their seats, waiting for liftoff.

The hold was automatically triggered by the launch-pad computer system that manages the final minutes of the countdown for Starliner’s launch vehicle, an Atlas V rocket provided by United Launch Alliance.

The ground launch sequencer forced an end to today’s launch attempt at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida with just three minutes and 50 seconds remaining in the countdown. Mission managers started investigating what triggered the alarm even as the launch pad team began the process of helping NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams out of the capsule.

United Launch Alliance CEO Tory Bruno said the automated launch sequencer triggered an alarm because a circuit card on one of three redundant computer racks came up about six seconds more slowly than the other two. That particular card controls activities that free up the rocket for liftoff.

“For that system, we do require all three systems to be running. … Two came up normally. The third one came up, but it was slow to come up,” Bruno said at a news briefing. “That tripped a red line that created an automatic hold.”

The NASA-ULA-Boeing team said it would pass up a launch opportunity on June 2 to give engineers more time to assess the situation. The computer problem could be due to faulty hardware, which would be relatively simple to swap out, or it could be a more complex issue involving network connections between the computers.

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Milestone flight of Boeing’s Starliner faces further delay

Boeing Starliner and Atlas V rocket on launch pad
Boeing’s Starliner space capsule sits atop its United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket during preparations for launch. (ULA Photo)

Update for May 22: Mission managers say they are evaluating plans for the first crewed flight test of Boeing’s Starliner space taxi and are working toward a launch opportunity on June 1.

An initial attempt to send the gumdrop-shaped capsule and two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station had to be scrubbed on May 6 due to concerns about a fluttery pressure regulation valve on the Atlas V rocket’s upper-stage oxygen tank.

Starliner and the rocket were rolled back to the Vertical Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Launch Complex 41 in Florida. The valve was replaced on May 11 and passed a round of tests — but along the way, engineers detected a small helium leak that was traced to a flange on one of the Starliner service module’s thrusters.

The launch teams at Boeing and NASA determined that the leak was stable. Now they are working on a follow-on assessment of the propulsion system to understand the potential impacts of the helium system on some of the return scenarios for Starliner. That assessment will be evaluated during a flight test readiness review that hasn’t yet been scheduled.

The earliest opportunity for a second launch attempt is now 12:25 p.m. ET (9:25 a.m. PT) on June 1, with additional opportunities on June 2, 5 and 6. The launch teams had previously targeted May 21 and May 25 for liftoff.

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NASA boosts four proposed climate science missions

Graphic charting extent of ozone hole on world map
A color-coded image based on satellite data shows the extent of the Antarctic ozone hole in September 2023. (ESA / DLR Graphic)

NASA has selected four proposals for climate science missions, including an effort led by a University of Washington researcher, to go forward for further study with millions of dollars in funding.

STRIVE, which has UW atmospheric scientist Lyatt Jaeglé as its principal investigator, would focus on interactions between the stratosphere and the troposphere.

“STRIVE would allow us to see the composition and temperature of the atmosphere with much finer detail than previously possible from space,” Jaeglé told me in an email. “It would enable us to observe how smoke from fires and volcanoes affect the ozone layer. It would give us needed information to understand how the troposphere and stratosphere interact, and how these interactions influence weather, climate and air quality.”

Jaeglé said “the entire STRIVE team is very excited at the prospect of moving forward in this next step to prepare the concept study.”

The three other studies winning support from NASA’s new Earth System Explorers Program are ODYSEA, EDGE and Carbon-I. Each of the science teams for the four selected proposals will receive $5 million to conduct a one-year concept study.

After the study period, NASA will choose two of the proposals to go forward to launch, with readiness dates expected in 2030 and 2032. For each chosen investigation, the mission cost will be capped at $310 million. That figure doesn’t include launch costs, which will be covered by NASA.

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First crewed flight of Boeing’s Starliner put on hold

Atlas V rocket with Starliner space taxi
Boeing’s Starliner space taxi sits atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on its Florida launch pad. (ULA Photo)

The first crewed flight of Boeing’s Starliner space taxi was postponed today due to concerns about a valve on the upper stage of United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket. It was the latest in a years-long string of delays for what’s expected to be a milestone mission for Boeing and commercial spaceflight.

Liftoff had been set for 10:34 p.m. ET (7:34 p.m. PT) today from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41 in Florida. But launch managers called a hold with a little more than 2 hours left in the countdown, after NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams had already climbed into the capsule.

“The team has had some observations on an oxygen relief valve on our Centaur second stage, and the team is just not comfortable with the signatures that they’re seeing, the response out of that valve,” United Launch Alliance’s Dillon Rice said. “So, out of an abundance of caution, we are not going to continue with our launch operations today.”

The astronauts climbed out of the capsule and headed back to their quarters. Meanwhile, ULA engineers checked into the balky valve, which didn’t stay closed properly during preparations for launch and made a buzzing noise. The ULA team decided to replace the valve, which led mission managers to schedule the next launch attempt for no earlier than May 17.

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