Tokyo, Jan. 28 (BNA): Toyota is working with the Japan Space Agency on a rover to explore the lunar surface, with ambitions to help people live on the moon by 2040 and then go to Mars live, company officials said Friday.
The vehicle being developed with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is called the Lunar Cruiser, whose name honors the Toyota Land Cruiser SUV. The Associated Press (AP) reported that its launch is scheduled for late 2020.
Takao Sato, who heads the Lunar Cruiser project at Toyota Motor Corp.
“We see space as an area of once-in-a-century transformation. By going into space, we may be able to develop telecommunications and other technologies that will prove their value in human life,” Sato told The Associated Press.
Gitai Japan Inc. developed , a contractor under contract with Toyota, is a robotic arm for the Lunar Cruiser, designed to perform tasks such as inspection and maintenance. Its ‘Grape’ allows the tip of the arm to be changed so that it can work like different tools, scooping, hoisting and sweeping.
Jitai CEO Shu Nakanoz said he felt the challenge of launching into space had been met primarily, but that working in space involved significant costs and risks for astronauts. This is where the robots will come in handy, he said.
Since its founding in the 1930s, Toyota has been concerned about losing core business due to changing times. She has ventured into housing, boats, airplanes, and robotics. Grid-connected sustainable living quarters near Mount Fuji, called Woven City, where construction begins this year.
The growing Japanese fascination with the moon.
A private Japanese company called ispace Inc. On lunar modules, landers and rotations, it is scheduled to land on the lunar surface later this year. Businessman Yusaku Maezawa, who recently took videos of himself floating on the International Space Station, has booked an orbit around the Moon aboard Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s spacecraft.
Toyota engineer Shinichiro Noda said he is excited about the moon project, which is an extension of the company’s long mission to serve customers and the moon may provide valuable resources for life on Earth.
“Send our cars to the moon is our mission,” he said. Toyota has cars almost everywhere. “But this is about getting our cars to a place we haven’t been before.”
AOQ