Japan’s iSpace plans to send a transformable robot ball to the moon for JAXA to test lunar rover tech

Japan intends to deploy a baseball-sized rover to investigate the moon’s surface in 2022. The Japanese organization iSpace will release the small rover to the moon for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) using the commercial HAKUTO-R lander. JAXA will use the rover to snap photos of the moon and gather information on lunar dust — a corrosive substance known to be hard on individuals and machines, the space organization said.

It seems JAXA’s “transformable lunar robot” will be the second one carried on iSpace’s debut mission, as the organization declared a month ago it would likewise send a rover from the United Arab Emirates, called Rashid. On the off chance that the mission is successful, Japan and the UAE will join the small club of countries to successfully soft-land spacecraft on the moon, after the then-Soviet Union, the United States, and China.

There are few details accessible now about the Japanese robot, which is as yet being worked on. The design, as indicated by pictures and information given in a JAXA press release, seems, by all accounts, to be a 3-inch (80-mm) diameter sphere that opens to move around on the lunar surface on two wheels.

“The transformable lunar robot will be an ultra-compact and ultra-lightweight robot that can traverse in the harsh lunar environment,” JAXA stated. The robot’s diminutive size and small mass of 250 grams, JAXA added, “contributes to a reduction in volume during transportation to the moon. Therefore, it is expected to play active roles in future lunar exploration missions as well.”

The robot incorporates contributions from partners Sony, TOMY Company, and Doshisha University, JAXA noted, adding the organization will “continue to conduct studies for realizing international space exploration by utilizing the lunar landing opportunities and technologies offered by commercial companies.”

Delegates with iSpace depicted the vehicle as “a small-scale, two-wheeled rover” in its own press release. The organization additionally said it will manage “communication and operations during the robot’s lunar surface exploration” from the lander.

Mission telemetry from iSpace will likewise assist with JAXA’s plans to send “Lunar Cruiser”, the organization stated. Lunar Cruiser is an immense pressurized rover for astronauts that could be prepared for moon driving by 2029. Conceivable research regions incorporate automatic activities and driving technology, iSpace stated.

JAXA previously used interplanetary roving technology on asteroid Ryugu in 2018 during the Hayabusa2 sample-return mission. Since the asteroid’s low gravity makes traditional wheeled roving hard to do, Japan’s HIBOU and OWL robots jumped on the asteroid’s surface rather than using a “torque” in their interiors, which sat on a disk-shaped turntable.

Japan’s lunar robot declaration goes ahead with the impact points of two other significant space rover projects made public only hours prior.

Lockheed Martin and GM reported Wednesday (May 26) that they will collaborate to assemble a new astronaut moon buggy for the NASA Artemis moon-landing program, which may put individuals on the moon when 2024. That same day, Canada reported plans to put a robotic moon rover on the surface by 2026, in association with NASA, in the midst of other Canadian lunar project funding.