The case for continuing VIPER - a critical milestone on the journey back to the Moon

Benjamin Fernando , Clive Neal, Jack Kiraly, Brianna Fernandez, Ruby Patterson, Szilárd Gyalay, Myriam Lemelin

NASA's VIPER mission was designed to explore the Moon's south pole, with a primary objective of identifying and characterising volatile compounds such as water ice. Despite having been fully built and having passed all preflight environmental testing, the mission was cancelled by NASA in July 2024, and the rover remains in storage. In this paper, we outline why it remains crucial that a route to flying this mission is found. These reasons include laying the groundwork for both US and international exploration and habitation of the Moon, the development of the lunar economy, and the eventual goal of human exploration of Mars.