CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -The rover – the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER for short – is the size of a golf cart, and will sample the Moon’s soil environments to search for evidence of water and ice.

Detailed explanation-2: -VIPER runs on solar power. It will be required to quickly manoeuvre around the extreme swings in light and dark at the lunar South Pole. NASA has awarded a task order to Astrobotic for VIPER’s launch, transit and delivery to the lunar surface as part of the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative.

Detailed explanation-3: -NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER, is a mobile robot that will go to the South Pole of the Moon to get a close-up view of the location and concentration of water ice that could eventually be harvested to sustain human exploration on the Moon, Mars - and beyond.