T+280: VIPER Cancelled, Falcon 9 Grounded

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.TopicsNASA Ends VIPER Project, Continues Moon Exploration - NASANASA cancels VIPER lunar rover - SpaceNewsNASA Cancels VIPER Lunar Rover – SpacePolicyOnline.comChris Bergin - NSF on X: “Here are two minutes of the SpaceX launch stream where the ice build-up began.”Starlink 9-3 - SpaceX - LaunchesThe ShowLike the show? Support the show on Patreon or Substack!Email your thoughts, comments, and questions to [email protected] @WeHaveMECOFollow @[email protected] on MastodonListen to MECO HeadlinesListen to Off-NominalJoin the Off-Nominal DiscordSubscribe on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher, TuneIn or elsewhereSubscribe to the Main Engine Cut Off NewsletterArtwork photo by NASAWork with me and my design and development agency: Pine Works