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© Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.Toyota heading to moon with cruiser, robotic arms, dreams
By YURI KAGEYAMA TOKYO©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
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Robert pearce
I want one !
starpunk
Space is infinite. And we've been sending robots to other worlds and their moons. Some of these moons can be useful for human colonization too. And it's safer to send robots to these places first, they're more expendable and no lives are lost.
Before we even had men walk the moon, we had droids explore it in order to ensure that the landings would be safe. And we're doing that now with other worlds. Space science has been and is now and will continue to grow.
Peter Neil
I'm a great advocate of space exploration. The James Webb telescope will help us in our quest to understand the Universe and the advancement of knowledge. I don't think the Toyota people are being altruistic, This is marketing schtick. They're probably already planning the TV ads.
1glenn
Cool.
snowymountainhell
Darn’it @sethwright 5:48pm. At first glance thought you wrote “Japanese Mecha Corps”. - That would put Toyota ahead of their competition!
sethwright
Japanese mega corps have a long history of BS-ing the public with publicity stunts and empty promises like this which that they have no intention of fulfilling. This is no different. Just like 'e-palette' or the concept cars they show off every year.
Fighto!
Fabulous news!
Not a shock that Toyota is at the forefront of moon research and colonization prospects.
Hopefully, by 2040 or earlier, there will be a Japanese colony on the moon - and potentially other nations will also have colonies. It is wise insurance against the earth becoming uninhabitable due to war or global warming.
snowymountainhell
Btw: We dodged another recent ‘bullet’. A large stony asteroid passed Earth on January 18, 2022. Estimated size was around 3,280feet (.62 miles or about 1 km). That’s around 2.5 times the height of the NYC’s Empire State Building. (Rumours of its origin from Klendathu system have been debunked.)
snowymountainhell
Plus, Gatling gun & nukes and Japan’s ready to take on Apophis 99942 (Asteroid diameter: 370 metres (1,210 feet) on either Apr 13, 2029
or,
by better estimates, Apr 13, 2036.
wanderlust
Add a drilling bit, and it could be from 'Armageddon!'
snowymountainhell
Always love automakers’ ‘concept art’. - Looks like a cross between TV’s Lost In Space (1965-68) ‘Chariot’ and CBS Saturday Mornings’ Arc II (1976-79)
John-San
There main aganda is to mine for gold remotely. BHP and Rio Tinto are invested and work has began on mining the moon last year. They have mines in north Western Australia and loaders and dump trucks are driven remotely from 3000km away in Perth.
Kyo wa heiwa dayo ne
Technology valuable to human life ?
You mean like the fossil fuel combustion vehicles that Toyota is still mass producing during a carbon emissions reduction program.
Ah yes very valuable to human life !
SarcasmOnly
Marketing distraction :-)
Alan Bogglesworth
Ebisen, no one else saw it
JeffLee
It's called "stealth camping," and it's been growing among young people in North America, where service industry wages are low, public transportation is scarce, and rents are very high.
Peter Neil
We’re not going to live on any other planet in our solar system. We’ll be extinct before we figure out how to survive in space. Too many problems with our eyes, our bone density and our blood.
The reason we stopped going to the moon 50 years ago was because there’s nothing there. Unless we’re going to use it as a landfill for plastic bags and chopsticks.
And besides, we’re not done screwing up this planet yet.
kurisupisu
ebisen
Sakurasuki
Yeah, they literally were in the news with a huge line of EVs a few weeks ago..
starpunk
And mankind keeps mucking up Earth's environment and as space travel becomes more common and with our ISS and all, more people will be living on other worlds. And at the same time, more people will want to flee oppression and dirtbag dictatorships too. This is progress. Go Toyota and JAXA, GO!
Desert Tortoise
The moon could serve as a launch point for more distant space exploration. Lacking the Earth's gravity a spacecraft built and launched from the Moon would not need the massive booster rockets necessary to launch the same payload from Earth. It is also a place where we can learn how to live in hostile airless environments. At some point Mankind has to become a multi-planet species. Eventually the Sun will fuse all the hydrogen it has, leave what is called the Main Phase and balloon into a Red Giant, incinerating all of the inner planets in the process. Fortunately we have some time to master space travel but there is no time like the present to start.
sakurasuki
Any news of any EV product? Instead going to moon using Japanese people tax payer.
Going to moon for what exactly?