Toyota is working with Japan’s space agency on a vehicle to explore the lunar surface, with ambitions to help people live on the moon by 2040 and then go live on Mars, company officials said yesterday.
The vehicle being developed with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is called Lunar Cruiser, a name that pays homage to the Toyota Land Cruiser sport utility vehicle. Its launch is set for later this decade.
The vehicle uses the idea that people eat, work, sleep and communicate with others safely in regular vehicles, so the same could be done in outer space, Toyota Lunar Cruiser project head Takao Sato said.
Photo: AP
“We see space as an area for our once-in-a-century transformation. By going to space, we may be able to develop telecommunications and other technology that will prove valuable to human life,” Sato said.
Gitai Japan Inc, a venture contracted with Toyota, has developed a robotic arm for the Lunar Cruiser, designed to perform tasks such as inspection and maintenance. Its “grapple fixture” allows the arm’s end to be changed so that it can scoop, lift and sweep.
Gitai CEO Sho Nakanose said he felt the challenges of blasting off into space had been met, but working in space has additional hazards for astronauts. That is where robots could be helpful, he said.
Since its founding in the 1930s, Toyota has fretted about losing a core business because of changing times. It has ventured into housing, boats, jets and robots. Its net-connected sustainable living quarters near Mount Fuji, called Woven City, is beginning construction this year.
Japanese fascination with the moon has been growing. A private Japanese venture called ispace Inc is working on lunar rovers, along with landing and orbiting capabilities. It is scheduled for a moon landing later this year.
Businessman Yusaku Maezawa, who recently visited the International Space Station, has booked an orbit around the moon aboard Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s Starship project.
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