Toyota to Help Develop Vehicle to Explore Moon
2022-02-01
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1Japanese automaker Toyota says it will team up with the country's space agency to develop a vehicle to explore the moon.
2The vehicle is called the Lunar Cruiser.
3The name comes from a popular Toyota vehicle called the Land Cruiser.
4The company said it plans to launch the vehicle in the late 2020s.
5After that, Toyota said the vehicle could assist people living on the moon by 2040 and could possibly be sent to Mars as well.
6Takao Sato heads the company's Lunar Cruiser project.
7He told The Associated Press the vehicle is based on the idea that people eat, work, sleep and communicate with others safely in cars.
8He hopes the Lunar Cruiser can serve the same purpose in space.
9"We see space as an area for our once-in-a-century transformation, Sato said.
10"By going to space, we may be able to develop telecommunications and other technology that will prove valuable to human life."
11Another company, Gitai Japan Inc., is partnering with Toyota to develop a robotic arm for the Lunar Cruiser.
12It will be designed to perform jobs such as carrying out inspections and maintaining the vehicle.
13The company said the arm will be built to work with different tools.
14These tools could be used to study the moon's surface more closely.
15Interest in space has been growing in Japan in recent years.
16Japanese space exploration company iSpace announced last April that it would transport an explorer belonging to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the moon in 2022.
17Japan's iSpace will provide the lander to carry the UAE's rover.
18The company plans to launch the lander on a Falcon 9 rocket built by American company SpaceX.
19Japanese citizens followed the trip to space last year of billionaire Yusaku Maezawa.
20He spent 12 days aboard the International Space Station.
21Maezawa also plans in the future to orbit around the moon on a SpaceX's Starship spacecraft.
22Toyota engineer Shinichiro Noda said he thinks the lunar project can extend the company's tradition of serving customers to a place beyond Earth.
23He said Toyota currently has vehicles almost everywhere.
24"But this is about taking our cars to somewhere we have never been," Noda said.
25I'm Bryan Lynn.
1Japanese automaker Toyota says it will team up with the country's space agency to develop a vehicle to explore the moon. 2The vehicle is called the Lunar Cruiser. The name comes from a popular Toyota vehicle called the Land Cruiser. 3The company said it plans to launch the vehicle in the late 2020s. After that, Toyota said the vehicle could assist people living on the moon by 2040 and could possibly be sent to Mars as well. 4Takao Sato heads the company's Lunar Cruiser project. He told The Associated Press the vehicle is based on the idea that people eat, work, sleep and communicate with others safely in cars. He hopes the Lunar Cruiser can serve the same purpose in space. 5"We see space as an area for our once-in-a-century transformation, Sato said. "By going to space, we may be able to develop telecommunications and other technology that will prove valuable to human life." 6Another company, Gitai Japan Inc., is partnering with Toyota to develop a robotic arm for the Lunar Cruiser. It will be designed to perform jobs such as carrying out inspections and maintaining the vehicle. The company said the arm will be built to work with different tools. These tools could be used to study the moon's surface more closely. 7Interest in space has been growing in Japan in recent years. 8Japanese space exploration company iSpace announced last April that it would transport an explorer belonging to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the moon in 2022. Japan's iSpace will provide the lander to carry the UAE's rover. The company plans to launch the lander on a Falcon 9 rocket built by American company SpaceX. 9Japanese citizens followed the trip to space last year of billionaire Yusaku Maezawa. He spent 12 days aboard the International Space Station. Maezawa also plans in the future to orbit around the moon on a SpaceX's Starship spacecraft. 10Toyota engineer Shinichiro Noda said he thinks the lunar project can extend the company's tradition of serving customers to a place beyond Earth. 11He said Toyota currently has vehicles almost everywhere. "But this is about taking our cars to somewhere we have never been," Noda said. 12I'm Bryan Lynn. 13The Associated Press reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English. 14We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. 15_____________________________________________ 16Words in This Story 17transformation - n. a complete change 18maintain - v. keep a thing in good condition 19customer - n. someone who buys goods and services from a business