After Spending $450 Million, NASA Scraps Moon Rover

The space agency expects to save $84 million in development and additional operational costs by canceling.

The Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) at the Johnson Space Center in Houston on July 7, 2024. Helen Arase Vargas/NASA via AP

NASA has canceled its plan to land a robotic rover on the Moon to search for ice and other potential resources, after spending $450 million.

The plan involved landing what is dubbed the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER, near the lunar South Pole, which scientists suspect may harbor ice.