NASA announced their intent to cancel VIPER, the rover that was due to go to the Moon on Astrobotic’s Griffin lander, after severe schedule and cost growth. SpaceX had a rare failure of Falcon 9 that has led to a (seemingly short) grounding of the vehicle.

This episode of Main Engine Cut Off is brought to you by 31 executive producers—Frank, Donald, Fred, Bob, Steve, Matt, Will and Lars from Agile, Lee, Pat from KC, Better Every Day Studios, The Astrogators at SEE, Joonas, Warren, Jan, Russell, Pat, Josh from Impulse, Joel, David, Ryan, Stealth Julian, Kris, Theo and Violet, Tim Dodd (the Everyday Astronaut!), Harrison, and four anonymous—and 816 other supporters.

Topics

NASA Ends VIPER Project, Continues Moon Exploration - NASA
NASA cancels VIPER lunar rover - SpaceNews
NASA Cancels VIPER Lunar Rover – SpacePolicyOnline.com
Chris Bergin - NSF on X: “Here are two minutes of the SpaceX launch stream where the ice build-up began.”
Starlink 9-3 - SpaceX - Launches

The Show

T+280: VIPER Cancelled, Falcon 9 Grounded