NASA cancels VIPER mission to the  moon - in major boost for China's space race

NASA has canceled a landmark mission to the far side of the moon, putting the US further behind in a new space race with China. 

The $600million mission would have involved sending a rover to the lunar's unexplored south pole in search of valuable natural resources.

The launch was set for late next year, but NASA canned the program Wednesday, citing manufacturing setbacks and ballooning costs.

It is the latest blow to the US' reputation as the dominant force in space. China became the first nation to return samples from the dark side of the moon last month.

Nicky Fox, NASA's associate administrator of the science mission directorate, said: 'Decisions like this are never easy.

'But in this case, the projected remaining expenses for VIPER would have resulted in having to either cancel or disrupt many other missions.'

The Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER), a golf cart-sized rover, was originally set to launch by December 2023.

The plan was for VIPER to spend 100 days collecting data to map potential water sources, which would be in the form of water ice.

Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles released a study in 2019 which suggested water ice may be locked deep within the lunar surface, and could even be large enough to support future human settlements.

The discovery of water ice would let NASA construct permanent bases on the moon, which would act as a rest stop for deep space travel.  

VIPER was again delayed until later this year, but again pushed further to September 2025, which would have cost NASA nearly $200 million in additional funds.

The rover was 'completely assembled' but had not yet undergone certain tests that would certify it could withstand launch, said Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration in NASA's science mission directorate.

Those tests included flying through the vacuum of space, and experiencing extreme temperatures.

But it was still possible the rover could be re-used in future missions, either in whole or in component parts, if NASA could reach a suitable agreement with industry partners who might be interested, he said.

Astrobotic, which in January launched the Peregrine lander that failed to reach the Moon, is still on track to launch in late 2025, but it will now carry a 'mass simulator' or heavy weight in place of a NASA rover.

Much of the public has shared that the news of the canceled mission could set NASA back in the space race against China, which touched down on the lunar south pole on June 5, 2024.

And the Asian succeeded in returning its Chang'e-6 lunar module on June 25, complete with 4.4 pounds of rocky lunar regolith.

However, Kearns insisted that the US is not falling behind in its space rivalry with China.

'We congratulate China's national space agency for the seemingly very successful Chang'e-6 mission,' he said.

But Kearns added that, by partnering with the space industry under the CLPS program, 'we think that we're going to have a more robust science program and a more robust lunar landing capability in the United States.'