After the success of its Land Cruiser on Earth, the Japanese auto giant, Toyota, now wants to put its ‘Lunar Cruiser’ on the moon. It is working with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency on the vehicle to explore the surface of the moon, with plans to help people live on the moon by 2040 and then on Mars, its officials revealed on Friday.
The Lunar Cruiser’s name is a tribute to Toyota’s famous Land Cruiser SUV, and it will be launched in the late 2020s. It is predicated on the concept that humans can eat, work, sleep, and converse with others securely in cars, and that the same can be done in space, according to Takao Sato, the head of Toyota Motor Corporation’s Lunar Cruiser project.
“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 told Associated Press.
Gitai Japan Inc, a company that contracted with Toyota, has created a robotic arm for the Lunar Cruiser that will allow it to perform tasks like inspection and maintenance. Its ‘grapple fixture’ allows the end of the arm to be modified to act like tools used for scooping, sweeping, and lifting.
Gitai’s Chief Executive, Sho Nakanose, believes that the challenge of launching into space has been mostly addressed but operating in space comes with huge costs and risks for astronauts. He thinks this is where robots can be helpful.
Toyota has been concerned about losing its main business due to changing times since its inception in the 1930s and has dabbled in housing, boats, jets, and robots. It will begin construction of the Woven City this year, which is a net-connected sustainable living quarter near Mount Fuji. Besides these, it has a growing interest in the moon.
Shinichiro Noda, an engineer at Toyota, is thrilled about the lunar project that is an extension of the automaker’s long-standing goal to serve customers while considering that the moon may provide important resources for life on Earth.
“Sending our cars to the moon is our mission,” Noda said. Toyota has cars almost everywhere, “but this is about taking our cars to somewhere we have never been,” he remarked.
