Japan wants to send a transforming spherical robot to the moon

By Georgina Torbet May 30, 2021

Transformable lunar robot (left: before transformation, right: after transformation) — Transformable lunar robot (left: before transformation, right: after transformation) JAXA

The moon could soon be visited by a jolly round robotic friend. The Japanese Space Agency, JAXA, has announced plans to build a transforming lunar rover to explore the moon ahead of its planned crewed mission there.

To travel across the lunar regolith — the dusty, soil-like substance which covers the moon’s surface — the rover will be able to transform from its ball-like travel form, designed to be as compact and efficient as possible, into a delightfully named “running form” which it will use to move around the lunar environment. It will take pictures of the surface to learn more about the topography and the qualities of the regolith, to help engineers design a more maneuverable crewed rover.

Recommended Videos

The round rover will be just a few inches across, or a bit larger than a tennis ball, and will weigh around 250 grams (8.8 ounces). To pack all of the required technology into this tiny form, JAXA is partnering with the Tomy toy company and Doshisha University, with technology contributed by Sony as well.

JAXA says it aims to launch the mini rover in 2022, to be followed by a much larger rover in 2029. This larger rover will be pressurized and crewed, allowing astronauts to cover larger areas of the moon’s surface and explore more widely. JAXA will also be working alongside NASA for its Artemis mission to the moon.

“In 2019, the Government of Japan decided to participate in the Artemis program which was proposed by the U.S.,” said JAXA Vice President Hiroshi Sasaki. “Based on the decision, JAXA has been promoting mission development and system studies on international space exploration targeting the Moon and Mars by gathering Japanese technologies and knowledge.

“In particular, the crewed pressurized rover will play an important role in developing mobility on the lunar surface for sustainable exploration activities. The data on the lunar surface can be obtained by utilizing the transformable lunar robot which is a production of the Space Exploration Innovation Hub and the lunar landing missions of the commercial company. By making the best use of the data, we will surely proceed with the study on the crewed pressurized rover”

Topics

Georgina Torbet

Space Writer

Georgina has been the space writer at Digital Trends space writer for six years, covering human space exploration, planetary…

Space

Meet NASA’s trio of mini moon rovers set to launch next year

Part of NASA’s CADRE technology demonstration, three small rovers that will explore the Moon together show off their ability to drive as a team autonomously – without explicit commands from engineers – during a test in a clean room at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in December 2023.

NASA is ramping up its plans for exploring the moon, not only in terms of preparing to send astronauts there but also rovers. There's the VIPER rover, which will search for water around the lunar south pole, and now NASA is introducing a trio of mini rovers called CADRE, or Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration. These will work together as a team to map the lunar surface, testing the possibilities of using rovers in groups for future exploration.

The rovers, developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, are just the size of a carry-on suitcase. They are designed to move independently but share data so they can cover more ground than a single rover could. They'll have to work over a lunar day, which is about two weeks, to map out features on the surface and look below ground using radar.

Space

See images of the tilted Odysseus lander on the moon

Taken on February 27th, flight controllers commanded Odysseus to capture a new image using its narrow-field-of-view camera. Previous attempts to send photos from landing and the days following returned unusable imagery. After successfully transmitting the image to Earth, flight controllers received additional insight into Odysseus’ position on the lunar surface

The first lunar landing by a U.S. entity in 50 years was celebrated last week, but the lander from Intuitive Machines, named Odysseus, has had a challenging time as it landed at a tilted angle. New images released by the company show the damage that the Odysseus lander incurred during landing and sitting tilted on the moon's surface, but the company stressed that it considered the mission a success as it was able to perform a controlled soft landing and get science data from all of its payloads.

The lander is expected to run out of power within a few hours, but there is a possibility the company will be able to power it back on in a couple of weeks once the lunar night ends.

Space

Japan’s lunar lander surprises team by waking up from cold lunar night

Japan's SLIM lander in an upside-down position on the moon.

Japan’s lunar lander has reestablished contact with its mission controllers on Earth, confirming that it had successfully made it through a bitterly cold two-week lunar night.

SLIM (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon) reached the moon last month -- a first for Japan as it became only the fifth nation to achieve a soft landing on the lunar surface. But it soon emerged that SLIM had toppled over as it touched down, leaving the team at JAXA -- Japan’s NASA -- wondering if the mission could continue.