Nobile Crater — The Moon Region Where NASA Artemis Rover Will Search For Ice And Water

VIPER will land near the Nobile crater in 2023 and spend about 100 days exploring the polar region’s surface and subsurface for water and other resources

A data visualisation showing the mountainous area west of Nobile crater and the smaller craters that litter its rim at the lunar South Pole | Photo: NASA

New Delhi: NASA has identified the crater on the Moon where its Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER, will land to explore the polar region’s surface and subsurface for water and other resources.

VIPER will spend about 100 days in the region after arriving there in 2023, the space sganecy said in a statement.

The ice trapped in the subsurface of the craters in the Moon’s polar regions could provide drinking water, breathable air and also rocket fuel, scientists believe.

VIPER, which is part of NASA’s Artemis Moon mission, will land near the western edge of the Nobile crater at the south pole of the Moon. The 45-mile-wide Nobile crater was said to have formed when something hit the Moon, according to the agency. 

VIPER will launch on a SpaceX Falcon-Heavy rocket, to be delivered to the Moon by Astrobotic’s Griffin lander under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative.

The Sun is low on the horizon near the poles, and the bottoms of the craters are said to be among the coldest places in the solar system. No Moon missions prior to this have explored it. 

NASA said scientists have so far only studied the polar region using remote sensing instruments, such as those on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite.

“Data from these and other missions helped scientists conclude that ice and other potential resources exist in permanently shadowed areas of the Moon near the poles,” NASA said in the statement.

Why Nobile Crater Chosen As VIPER’s Landing Site

The mountainous area west of Nobile Crater was chosen after an extensive selection process, due to its “rover-accessible terrain and array of nearby sites of scientific interest, including permanently shadowed areas”, NASA said.

“Once on the lunar surface, VIPER will provide ground truth measurements for the presence of water and other resources at the Moon’s South Pole, and the areas surrounding Nobile Crater showed the most promise in this scientific pursuit,” Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters, said in the statement. 

He said the VIPER data will provide lunar scientists with further insight into the Moon’s cosmic origin, evolution, and history.

“It will also help inform future Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond by enabling us to better understand the lunar environment in these previously unexplored areas hundreds of thousands of miles away.”

According to NASA scientists, Nobile Crater was formed through a collision with another smaller celestial body, and it is almost permanently covered in shadows, which allows ice to be present there. 

Smaller craters surrounding Nobile’s perimeter, which are more accessible, are also likely to provide VIPER with “ideal locations” for its explorations.

Daniel Andrews, VIPER project manager, said selecting the landing site was a very important decision, which was arrived at after “years of study”. “VIPER is going into uncharted territory—informed by science—to test hypotheses and reveal critical information for future human space exploration.”