Blue Origin wins NASA deal to ferry VIPER rover to lunar south pole

On Friday, Blue Origin won a major NASA contract to deliver a lunar rover to the moon, a strong vote of confidence in both the Blue Moon lander and the future of human exploration. The contract also means that the VIPER rover will finally see the lunar surface after NASA shelved the entire program last year due to delays and cost overruns. Under the deal, Blue Origin will carry VIPER – short for “Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover” – on its uncrewed Blue Moon Mk1 lander. Separately, NASA has awarded...