JAXA And Toyota Announce 'Lunar Cruiser' That Includes Robotic Arms: Full Details Of Its Mission

Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and carmaker Toyota signed a joint research agreement to create a 'Lunar Cruiser.' which has a robotic arms.

JAXA And Toyota Partners For 'Lunar Cruiser'

Last Aug. 2020, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) announced that they will be creating a manned pressurized rover named "Lunar Cruiser," per Toyota.

In addition to this, the Japanese space agency and the carmaker also announced that they would cooperate with one another on a research on a manned, pressurized lunar rover using fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) technologies, which they have been doing.

To further explain its name, the term "Lunar Cruiser" was chosen because it evokes a sense of familiarity in those participating in the development and production of the vehicle prototype as part of the collaborative research effort, as well as in the broader public.

Moreover, the name also supports pressurized lunar rover's expected quality, durability, and reliability, as well as Toyota's long-held Land Cruiser concept of "coming back alive." Additionally, the said concept is especially true for the lunar rover because it will be travelling the harsh environment of the moon's surface.

For background information, last June 2019, JAXA and Toyota signed together a joint research agreement to create a manned pressurized lunar rover which was expected to launch for the latter half of the 2020s. On the same year, both the Japanese companies worked together to manufacture test pieces for each technological component, as well as the prototype rover itself.

Furthermore, the test will be used to confirm power and heat dissipation performance while driving, prototype tires will be manufactured and tested, and virtual reality and full-scale models will be used to examine the layout of equipment in the interior of the Japanese rover.

JAXA and Toyota have also been discussing laterally with a number of companies. The carmaker noted that the said meetings will focus on how the manned pressurized rover can serve as the starting point for a vision of a future lunar surface-based society, as well as the issues that comes with it.

'Lunar Cruiser' Mission

If SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is fascinated about bringing people to Mars, Royals Blue reported that officials from the company said they want to assist people live on the moon by 2040, which is a first step toward human settlement on Mars.

Toyota Motor Corporations Lunar Cruiser project leader Takao Sato explained that the vehicle is built on the premise that people eat, work, sleep, and converse safely with others in cars, which can be done in space as well.

To inspect and maintain the rover on space, Gitai Japan Inc. has created a robotic arm for the Lunar Cruiser. A "fastener" enables one end of the arm to be changed, allowing the arm to be used as a variety of tools.

The concept behind Lunar Cruiser is that JAXA would launch the ship to the moon first, and it will be able to automatically journey there to meet the astronauts as they arrive.

Shinichiro Noda, a Toyota engineer, expressed his enthusiasm for the lunar mission, stating that the moon could give significant resources for Earth life.