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This is the moon rover Toyota plans to launch into space — take a look

 


Source: Toyota Motor

A concept image of the planned Toyota lunar rover.

Toyota may already be one of the world's biggest manufacturers of Earth-bound vehicles, but the Japanese automaker is looking to expand its horizons.
The auto company has plans to work with Japan's space agency to develop a manned lunar rover that will run on fuel cell technology and provide transport for people and cargo on the moon, Toyota Motor and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced this week.
This is what the moon vehicle could eventually look like:
The planned rover would be nearly 20 feet long, 17 feet wide and about 12 feet tall, and its 459 cubic feet of living space would provide enough room for two passengers (four people would fit "in an emergency," Toyota says).
It would also have a deployable solar panel to provide an additional energy source.

A concept image of the planned Toyota lunar rover with deployed solar panels.
Source: Toyota Motor
A concept image of the planned Toyota lunar rover with deployed solar panels.
It would run on a fuel cell battery system that could draw on existing technology already used in Toyota vehicles like the Toyota Mirai.
"Fuel cells, which use clean power-generation methods, emit only water, and ... can provide a lot of energy," Toyota Executive Vice President Shigeki Terashi said in a statement.

Source: Toyota Motor
The rover would have a "lunar-surface cruising range" of more than 6,200 miles, Toyota says.
While Japan has never launched a manned space flight itself, JAXA said the Toyota lunar rover could be a big part of a future manned launch. "We aim to launch such a rover into space in 2029," JAXA Vice President Koichi Wakata said.


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