Toyota is better known as a manufacturer of automobiles, but in its history it managed to produce a lot of different devices, among which even a robot for space exploration. It turned out that the interest of Japanese firms to the space sector have not diminished, but just the opposite — kindled with renewed vigor. Otherwise, how to explain the fact that she took responsibility for production of all-terrain vehicle designed to travel astronauts on the lunar surface?
Development of passenger lunar Rover is commissioned by the Japanese aerospace exploration Agency (JAXA). One of the main requirements of the agencies is greater freedom of space explorers — it is important that if you wish, they could even remove their costumes. Probably so the Japanese space explorers want to hasten the day when people will be able to feel on other space objects almost like home.
We already know that the Rover will be the size of two minibus with a living area of 13 square meters, and will accommodate two people. The allocated space is just enough that the researchers were able to take off the heavy suits . For the power supply will use solar energy — it is expected that it will be enough to overcome the 10 000 kilometers.
Sending a moon Rover is planned for 2029. First, he will arrive at the moon without pilots on Board, and it will go in automatic mode, and after the arrival of a human expedition will meet them in the most convenient place.
At the moment a lot of effort Agency JAXA is paid to the study of the asteroid Ryugu. The video where the camera “Hayabusa-2” collect soil samples, can be found in our material.
What do you think about the future of the Rover Toyota? Your opinion you can write in the comments, or discuss the topic in our Telegram chat.