NASA has detailed an upcoming mission that is part of its Artemis program, which is slated to put humans back on the Moon.
The mission involved a rover called "Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover," or VIPER for short. NASA has said via the above YouTube video that the VIPER mission will be the very first resource mapping mission to ever be conducted on the surface of another celestial body. VIPER will be landing in the Nobile Crater located at the Moon's South Pole and will be searching for water in its designated area.
VIPER will be traversing 10 to 15 miles of the Nobile Crater that cover approximately 36 square miles. The rover will be visiting carefully selected locations of scientific interest, such as craters that are permanently in darkness, water-ice locations, and more. The rover will collect samples from three drill locations, and each of the locations varies in temperature.
With the data accumulated from this mission, NASA expects VIPER to provide insights into where more water-ice will be located on the Moon and ultimately assist in planning humans returning to the lunar surface. For more information on this story, check out this link here.