Take a Peek at the Specifications of VIPER, NASA's AI-powered Lunar Rover

NASA's VIPER Robot (NASA dollar photo)

JAKARTA – The Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) has an important role in making the Artemis mission a success. The reason is, this robot is the key to the search for ice at the South Pole of the Moon.

Just as the name suggests, VIPER is an exploration robot that has been introduced by the United States Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) since 2021. However, this golf car-sized robot was only completed in development in the middle of this year.

While on the Moon, VIPER will explore four dark craters for the presence of ice. This robot will deploy three instruments and a drill one meter high from its body to analyze the lunar surface and collect samples.

Considering the extreme weather on the Moon, VIPER has been designed with balanced power. NASA explained that this robot was capable of traveling at a speed of 0.45mph above the lunar surface. This robot can also move flexibly.

VIPER is decorated with four cruiser wheels designed with active suspension and independent steering. With this capability, VIPER can drive sideways and can turn in circles without being hampered.

Another important component of the VIPER robot is Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology in the self-driving system. With this tool, VIPER can monitor the surrounding environment and the software in its body will detect dangerous locations that should not be visited.

Even though this tool is powered by AI, NASA does not give full control to VIPER. According to NASA, giving AI control is quite a risky action. Therefore, the team from NASA will provide directions regarding how the robot should move.

According to plan, VIPER will be landed on the Moon with a lander robot called Griffin which is being worked on by Astrobotic. Both were supposed to launch in November this year, but NASA decided to postpone the launch until November next year.