A computer generated concept image of the VIPER rover Despite what the contents of this and recent episodes might imply, my passion is for science not for spacecraft. The thing is, sometimes spacecraft are needed to do the science. And lately, I and many others have been a bit forlorn about the possible cancellation of the VIPER rover, which is fully constructed and mostly ready to go to the moon. This mission was slated to ride on an Astrobotics lander this month, but Astrobotics got delayed and NASA just didn’t feel like sticking the mission in storage. Instead, they offered it up to...