Toyota Headed to the Moon with the Lunar Cruiser

Car maker Toyota is headed to the moon and developing a vehicle that can explore the surface of the moon and someday the surface of Mars. Toyota and the Japanese Space Agency, JAXA, are collaborating to develop a hydrogen-powered rover capable of exploring the moon's surface. According to The Associated Press, the corporation intends to help people live on the moon by 2040, with the possibility of moving on to Mars after that.The spacecraft will be known as Lunar Cruiser, and it will be modeled after Toyota's Land Cruiser sport utility vehicle.The vehicle is centered on the concept that individuals can safely eat, work, sleep, and converse with others while in their vehicles. According to the Associated Press, the concept can also be used to outer space, according to Takao Sato, Toyota's head of the 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,” said Sato.Toyota describes the Lunar Cruiser’s mission as achieving sustainable prosperity and extending the reach of human activity. However, there are steep challenges the car marker will face, as lunar gravity is one-sixth of that on Earth and the moon has a complex terrain, covered in craters, cliffs and hills.  Furthermore, the moon is also exposed to harsher conditions than Earth, like radiation and extreme temperatures.  The project has already made progress though, as Gitai Japan Inc. has developed a robotic arm for the Lunar Cruiser that will aid in the exploration, inspection and maintenance of the vehicle. It will have a grapple fixture that will allow the arm to be interchangeable so it can act like a variety of different tools.  Toyota is also planning to use hydrogen technology in the Lunar Cruiser, making the vehicle less toxic to the environment.  “Fuel cells, which use clean power-generation methods, emit only water, and, because of their high energy density, can provide a lot of energy, making them especially suited for the project being discussed with JAXA,” said Shigeki Terashi, Toyota executive vice president Toyota engineer Shinichiro Noda told the AP that he’s excited about the lunar project, an extension of the car company’s longtime mission to serve customers and the moon may provide valuable resources for life on Earth. “Sending our cars to the moon is our mission,” said Noda to the AP. Toyota has vehicles almost everywhere. “But this is about taking our cars to somewhere we have never been.”