NASA recently announced the discontinuation of its VIPER lunar rover project, a rover built to prospect the moon for a precious space commodity, water. NASA cited cost overruns and launch delays. The decision to abandon the VIPER is a grave mistake.
The VIPER mission is designed to explore the Moon’s South Pole, mapping the locations of ice and other valuable resources. This step is crucial for establishing a long-term human presence on the Moon, what the Europeans call a “moon village.”
“This cancellation is a massive blunder,” says Howard Bloom, Founder and Chair of the Space Development Steering Committee, co-founder of the Asian Space Technology Summit, and author of eight books including the forthcoming “The Case of the Sexual Cosmos: Everything You Know About Nature is Wrong.” Bloom explains, “We are in a race with China to settle humans on the moon. He who settles the moon first will determine the rules of space for the next hundred years. And space is the next economic frontier. With the cancellation of the VIPER, we’ve signaled to China that we’re not serious about winning. And that is not a signal we can afford to give. “
An Alternative Approach
The VIPER mission is nearly flight-ready. Rather than taking it to pieces and keeping only its drill and its sensors, NASA should find a private sector partner like SpaceX, Blue Origin, or Astrobotic to finish the mission. “NASA is essentially ready to give VIPER away,” Bloom emphasizes. “We need to invite others to come in with a plan for it!”
SpaceX: The Leading Candidate
The best option to save the VIPER mission is SpaceX, led by Elon Musk. SpaceX’s first landing of its Starship on the moon is envisioned as carrying no cargo. Instead, SpaceX could use that first Starship moon mission to carry the VIPER to the lunar surface. “Give VIPER to SpaceX,” Bloom suggests. “Let it go up on the first Starship trip to the moon. Then let Starship lower it to the lunar ground with the Starship’s built-in crane. If necessary, have NASA commit to buying the VIPER results and data.”
If NASA handed over VIPER to SpaceX, Musk’s team could almost certainly rise to the challenge. SpaceX has an exceptional track record of reducing launch costs and achieving unprecedented space milestones, making it the ideal partner.
A Message to the World
Abandoning VIPER also sends the wrong message to our allies and our enemies. It says that we Americans are stepping back from our lunar ambitions and allowing China to advance unchallenged. This has negative national security implications and risks America’s leadership in space…and on earth. “People don’t follow those who give up. They follow those who persevere,” Bloom warns. “China’s rapid progress in space exploration threatens to position Beijing as the dominant power in space. If America lags, other nations might align with China, leading to severe economic and strategic losses for the U.S.A.”
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Howard Bloom of the Howard Bloom Institute has been called the Einstein, Newton, Darwin, and Freud of the 21st century by Britain’s Channel 4 TV. One of his eight books — Global Brain — was the subject of a symposium thrown by the Office of the Secretary of Defense including representatives from the State Department, the Energy Department, DARPA, IBM, and MIT. His work has been published in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Wired, Psychology Today, and Scientific American. He is the founder of the Space Development Steering Committee and the co-founder of the Asia Space Technology Summit. Bloom does news commentary at 1:06 am Eastern Time every Wednesday night on 545 radio stations on Coast-to-Coast AM. For more, see http://howardbloom.net