NASA has issued an Announcement for Partnership Proposals (AFPP) inviting research and industry collaborators to join the Lunar Volatiles Science Partnership (LVSP). This initiative is centered around NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Explorer Rover (VIPER), a cutting-edge robotic mission designed to explore water ice and other volatile compounds on the Moon’s surface.
The selected partners will work under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to assist with VIPER’s landing, operations, and scientific data analysis, furthering NASA’s mission to understand lunar resources critical for future space exploration.
NASA Science Mission Directorate’s Exploration Science Strategy Integration Office will have a kickoff meeting to highlight the content of the AFPP and the overall LVSP approach. NASA will host a technical question and answer meeting (date and time TBD) to discuss recent updates on VIPER project analysis of test campaigns and ground system development. This will be an update on information previously provided as part of the VIPER Rover Partnership RFI site, which has other relevant technical information. NASA will announce this meeting time on this website as well as the approach for submitting questions.
Technical Information and Briefings
- NASA has publicly released the VIPER Technical Reference Document, which provides essential details for proposal formulation.
- Note: Prior to the AFPP release, NASA thought that this reference document might potentially contain export-controlled information tied to International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR). However, upon review, the report was cleared by NASA Ames for full and open posting as it does not have ITAR/EAR information. There is no longer a need for a proposer to contact NASA for permission to access the document, as it is available above.
Click here to know more about NASA’s Lunar Discovery and Exploration Program
