NASA had been planning to put humans on moon since a long time, with US President Donald Trump too forcing NASA for it. However, despite president’s order, NASA has cancelled its only moon mission that was supposed to examine resources available for humans.
The now-cancelled Resource Prospector mission was aimed to send a rover to moon’s polar regions to explore water and other deposits on and beneath the lunar surface. This decision of cancellation of the only moon mission baffled the scientists, resulting them to send an open letter to NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine.
The open letter insisted Bridenstine to not close the agency’s lone moon mission that has been in development since the past four years, reported The Verge. “We now understand RP was cancelled on 23 April 2018 and the project has been asked to close down by the end of May,” read the letter.
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“This action is viewed with both incredulity and dismay by our community,” particularly because Trump’s space policy “directs NASA to go to the lunar surface,” the letter said.
The Resource Prospector mission featured a lander and a solar-powered rover equipped with a drill. The rover was meant to explore the lunar surface and dig up the soil for examination. Though moon does contain water ice but this project would have helped understand more of the deposits.
Though the real reason for withdrawing the mission is not yet known, scientists predict it might be due to financial reasons since setting up such a moon mission is pretty expensive. A scientists involved in the team Dr. Phil Metzger informed that the Resource Projector was originally funded by the program that supports human exploration. It was later move into the science program, but its goals don’t really fit that section, which most probably started the issues.
Moreover, as per South China Morning Post, NASA responded by posting a statement online and explained that few of the instruments aboard the Resource Prospector will be flown on future missions.
The robotic rover was the world’s only vehicle aimed to explore the moon’s polar regions. Intended to being the first mission to mine lunar surface and search for compounds such as water, oxygen and hydrogen, the mission was expected to launch in 2022.