THE NEW SPACE RACE: NASA’s ice-hunting VIPER moon rover getting ready to slither to the launch pad.

VIPER will land near the lunar south pole and search for water ice and other resources that could help support NASA’s future Artemis astronauts. Those moon explorers will include the first woman and the first person of color to set foot on the lunar surface; they’ll do so on the Artemis 3 mission, which is currently targeted for 2026.

VIPER will spend 100 days roaming the lunar south pole region, collecting data that will reveal where water ice is most likely to dwell and determining how easy these resources will be to access.

In the process, VIPER will become the first-ever resource mapping mission on another body in the solar system. These resource maps will be a vital step in establishing a long-term human presence on the moon.

He who controls the water, controls the Moon.