Once scheduled to prospect for lunar ice aboard the VIPER lunar rover, the Honeybee Robotics TRIDENT ice drill will now only operate from the fixed landing site of the Intuitive Machines IM-2 mission.

After hours of uncertainty, officials from the Houston company said there are clues that the spacecraft is on its side, which could limit the mission’s scientific accomplishments.

VIPER’s primary goal is to map and analyze water ice deposits at the Moon’s South Pole. Equipped with three scientific instruments and a one-meter drill, the rover will explore various lunar ...

IM-2 is of particular importance given that NASA’s other planned venture into a lunar crater to look for ice, its VIPER rover, was canceled last year. Grace is “the only way right now that ...

The postponement, driven primarily by thick clouds, was the second scrub of the flight since an issue with the rocket on ...

An on-time launch and lunar transit will position IM-2 for ... for NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER), a mission to search for water-ice at Mons Mouton but cancelled ...

rover carrying NASA and ESA instruments to search for ice at the lunar south pole. After the cancellation of NASA's VIPER ...

The Space Coast set a new record in 2024 with 93 launches from all providers, building off the 72 orbital missions flown in 2023. With SpaceX’s continued pace, more launches from United Launch ...

Originally, this mission was supposed to carry a NASA rover to drill for ice at the lunar south pole. But VIPER — short for Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover — was canceled due ...