NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley invites members of the news media to a media teleconference Monday, Sept. 20 at 1 p.m. PDT, to announce the lunar landing site for the agency’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER.Ames manages the VIPER mission, and leads the mission’s science, systems engineering, real-time rover surface operations, and flight software.
The rover will be delivered to the Moon’s surface in late 2023 under the Artemis program and part of the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative.
VIPER is the first resource-mapping mission on the surface of another celestial body. While on the Moon, VIPER will get a close-up view of the location and concentration of ice and other resources, assisting in the advancement of science and human exploration as part ofArtemis missions.
Scientists and mission operators will leverage near real-time Earth-to-Moon communications and work together to drive the rover along an unexplored region of the Moon’s South Pole.
Audio of the teleconference will stream live online at:
Briefing participants are:
- Lori Glaze, director of the Planetary Science Division, NASA Headquarters in Washington.
- Daniel Andrews, VIPER project manager, NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley.
- Anthony Colaprete, VIPER lead project scientist, Ames.
- Darlene Lim, VIPER deputy lead project scientist, Ames.
- Darryl Gaines, deputy manager, NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services, NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
To participate in the teleconference, media must email their name and affiliation to joshua.a.handal@nasa.gov by Monday, Sept. 20 at 12:45 p.m. PDT for dial-in information.
At time of the media teleconference, a media resource reel will be available upon request.
Learn more about the VIPER mission at:
