[continued from previous message]   
      
   Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The Ariane 5 was retired about a   
   year before the first Ariane 6 launch, which left Europe unable to   
   launch big satellites on a rocket of its own for a spell.   
      
   a rectangular-bodied rover with three visible ribbed wheels, shines two   
   lights from the top of a short mast at the top front of its body. It's   
   visible side is a solar panel. The lights illuminate the grey surface   
   immediately in front of the rover. A black sky hangs above.   
      
   Artist's illustration of the VIPER rover on the moon's surface. (Image   
   credit: NASA/Daniel Rutter)   
   9) NASA cancels VIPER moon rover mission   
   NASA's Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) was set   
   to raise the bar for lunar exploration by showcasing what AI could do in   
   space. The mission plan was for the robotic VIPER to land near the   
   moon's south pool to search for water and other resources to support the   
   astronauts who will visit the moon's surface during NASA's Artemis missions.   
      
   However, the science world was shocked when NASA cancelled the VIPER   
   mission, a decision the agency announced on July 17. The decision to end   
   the VIPER project came down to budgetary concerns, even though it had   
   been successful up to the announcement. After spending around $450   
   million on the program, NASA chose to pull the plug. NASA expected to   
   save on development costs to the tune of $84 million by stopping the   
   lunar lander project.   
      
   After the decision, NASA has looked to see if other organizations are   
   interested in using the rover as-is. Another option, NASA said, is to   
   reuse the lunar lander's scientific instruments and components for other   
   moon missions in the future. So, while VIPER's original mission is gone,   
   the lunar lander may live on in some other form.   
      
   Related Stories:   
   — Starship and Super Heavy: SpaceX's deep-space transportation for the   
   moon and Mars   
      
   — Europa Clipper: A complete guide to NASA's astrobiology mission   
      
   — Starliner: Boeing's next-generation spaceship for astronauts   
      
   closeup of a smiling man in a white spacesuit   
      
   Cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko is seen outside the Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft   
   after he, NASA astronaut Anne McClain and Canadian Space Agency   
   astronaut David Saint-Jacques landed in Kazakhstan on June 24, 2019.   
   (Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls)   
   10) Oleg Kononenko breaks record for most time spent in space   
   Soviet and Russian cosmonauts have spent a long time in space. They hold   
   all of the top five slots in the most-total-time-in-space list. And this   
   year, 60-year-old Valery Polyakov broke the record with 1,1110 days in   
   space — by far the most total time spent off Earth by any human in   
   history. Polyakov also holds the record for most consecutive days in   
   space. In the mid-1990s, he spent 438 days on Russia's Mir space station.   
      
   The record for most people in Earth orbit at one time — 19 — was also   
   set this year, on Sept. 11, when three people launched on a Russian   
   Soyuz capsule to the ISS. This broke the previous record of 17 people in   
   orbit, which was notched in May 2023.   
      
   Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions,   
   night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment,   
   let us know at: community@space.com.   
      
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   Julian Dossett   
   Julian Dossett   
   Julian Dossett is a freelance writer living in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He   
   primarily covers the rocket industry and space exploration and, in   
   addition to science writing, contributes travel stories to New Mexico   
   Magazine. In 2022 and 2024, his travel writing earned IRMA Awards.   
   Previously, he worked as a staff writer at CNET. He graduated from Texas   
   State University in San Marcos in 2011 with a B.A. in philosophy. He   
   owns a large collection of sci-fi pulp magazines from the 1960s.   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)