NASA reported October 20 that its VIPER lunar rover is fully built and undergoing final testing at Johnson Space Center in Houston. The planned mission to the Moon’s south polar region is scheduled for 2027.

VIPER is intended to investigate water and other resources and collect information about terrain, lighting and temperature. The Houston work is an Earth-based preparation stage; it is not a claim that the rover is already exploring lunar craters.

The agency says mission operations will be run from Ames Research Center in California, with the rover expected to travel to Kennedy Space Center in Florida before launch. These facilities have different roles in preparing and operating the mission.

Johnson has also received a static mockup of Lunar Outpost’s Pegasus crewed rover for astronaut evaluations. Mockup assessments and the final testing of VIPER concern different vehicles and should not be reported as the same completed milestone.