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Headline: Toyota Reveals Self-Driving Electric 'Moon Rover' Ahead Of Japan's Planned 2029 Landing

Caption: Japan’s Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is partnering with automotive giant Toyota to build a six-wheeled, self-driving vehicle to explore the surface of the Moon ahead of Japan's planned 2029 landing. The transporter will be able to carry two passengers - or four in an emergency - for a distance of 6,200 miles (10,000 km). The rover will be about the size of two minibuses, with 13 square meters of habitable space, and the astronauts on board will be able to take their suits off inside the vehicle as they explore. It will land on the moon before the human expedition arrives, and travel independently to meet them. The concept will use Toyota‘s fuel cell vehicle (FCV) technology, which instead of using a battery, uses a fuel cell of oxygen and compressed hydrogen, which react with each other to generate electricity. The zero-emissions technology is already used on Toyota’s Mirai vehicle. “This is going to be a very tough challenge for Toyota,” said Shigeki Terashi, Toyota chief technology officer. “There are no paved roads on the moon.” The rover is expected to be a self-driving vehicle able to withstand the moon’s harsh environment, including high radiation and temperatures that vary by 300 C between the day and the night. Toyota has already tested its SUVs on rough terrain on five continents. “The moon will be our sixth continent to conquer,” Terashi said. "Manned, pressurized rovers will be an important element supporting human lunar exploration, which we envision will take place in the 2030s,’ said Koichi Wakata, JAXA Vice President. "We aim at launching such a rover into space in 2029."

Keywords: feature,photo feature,photo story,tech,technology,design,vehicle,space exploration

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