Launch of a Toyota/JAXA rover for the Moon by 2029

24 Jul 2019

Launch of a Toyota/JAXA rover for the Moon by 2029

Launch of a Toyota/JAXA rover for the Moon by 2029Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency  (JAXA) and Toyota are planning to launch a manned* lunar rover by 2029.

Toyota and JAXA have signed a 3-year agreement to research jointly.
 	The 6-wheeled pressurized lunar rover is in the research phase
 	The rover will use fuel-cell and electric-vehicle technologies which are clean and efficient.
 	The rover will be used for missions to explore the Moon.
 	It will help to study the possibility of using the Moon's resources (e.g. frozen water).

2019-2029

The plan is to get a full-scale working model by the year 2022.
 	Next would be building and testing the flight model around 2027.
 	If all goes well, the launch will happen in 2029.

How old will you be in the year 2029?

The Toyota/JAXA moon rover will not be the first crewed(manned) vehicle to roam the lunar surface.

NASA launched the astronaut-driven unpressurized "moon buggies" on the Apollo moon missions in 1971 and 1972.
 	The rover was a battery-powered 4-wheeler that could carry 2 astronauts and some baggage
 	These lunar rovers are still there!

Chandrayaan-2 will be landing an unmanned rover on the moon on September 2019.

Watch this space for news on that.

*Manned- carrying people

*Pressurized rovers - These types of rovers are safer for astronauts than unpressurized ones (like Apollo rovers) and can travel further distances

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Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Toyota are planning to launch a manned* lunar rover by 2029. Toyota and JAXA have signed a 3-year agreement […]

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