Spaceflight 🚀📆 April 3 #NASA announced it had selected #IntuitiveMachines, #LunarOutpost and #Astrolab to develop Lunar 🌙 Terrain Vehicles 🚐 https://spacesymposium365.org/nasa-selects-intuitive-machines-lunar-outpost-and-astrolab-to-develop-artemis-lunar-terrain-vehicles/
📆 April 4, 2024 A pressurized rover, when it comes along with the life support, we’ll be able to extend the cruise range even farther away from a lander. An announcement concerning the pressurized vehicles is coming “about a week from now.” https://spaceflightnow.com/2024/04/04/nasa-unveils-three-teams-to-compete-for-crewed-lunar-rover-demonstration-mission/
Toyota's #LunarCruiser could explore the moon 🌙 with #astronauts 👩🚀 inside for up to 30 days at a time. The vehicle would be 6 meters long, 5.2 meters wide, and 3.8 meters tall https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/04/japan-will-be-first-among-nasas-partners-to-have-an-astronaut-on-the-moon/
🇯🇵 Within this fiscal year, #Toyota will begin building a comprehensive full-scale test vehicle and speed up development on a new test course at the company’s R&D facilities. The #LunarCruiser's launch date is currently set for 📆 2029 https://toyotatimes.jp/en/toyota_news/1039_1.html
NEWS｜Team Japan Sets Sights on Space! Update on LUNAR CRUISER Development｜TOYOTA TIMES
Toyota is researching and developing the LUNAR CRUISER, a crewed pressurized rover to provide mobility on the moon’s surface, which JAXA hopes to launch in 2029. At a recent press briefing, the team provided updates on development. #TOYOTATIMES
🇯🇵 #Toyota will invest $44.4 million 💰 in #Japanese startup #InterstellarTechnologies to support mass production of its #rockets 🚀 https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/toyotas-autonomous-driving-unit-invest-hokkaido-based-space-infrastructure-firm-2025-01-06
📆 April 13-16, 2026 #Toyota will exhibit initiatives centered on the development of the #LunarCruiser at the 41st #SpaceSymposium https://global.toyota/en/mobility/technology/lunarcruiser/
🗺️ The Broadmoor. #Colorado Springs https://graphhopper.com/maps/?point=The+Broadmoor&layer=Mapilion
Rubber-based tires 🛞 will not be able to withstand the harsh #lunar environment, extreme #temperature variations, and high levels of ultraviolet radiation https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/bridgestone-unveils-metal-spoked-tire-concept
Air-filled #tires have little utility on the moon. Rubber properties vary significantly between the extreme cold ❄️ and hot 🌡️ temperatures experienced in the shaded and directly sunlit areas of the #moon. Unfiltered #solar radiation degrades rubber https://news.goodyear.com/goodyear-and-nasa-invent-spring-tire-for-moon-possibly-earth
The basis of #Michelin’s lunar tire 🛞 is an airless design using polyether ether ketone (#PEEK) thermoplastic that has a useful operating temperature up to 250C 🌡️. The material must be soft and flexible but also rigid. The contact surface is wide like a snowshoe because the regolith is fluffy and volatile, so this will be needed to maintain traction. Michelin also uses an extinct volcano as part of its testing process, because the fine rocky dust is both soft and abrasive https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesmorris/2025/04/12/michelins-next-tire-race-win-could-be-to-the-moon/
#Nitinol, an alloy of nickel and titanium, makes a rubber-acting metal that can bend all different ways, and it will always stretch back to its original shape. #Bridgestone is using a felt-like material for its tread, while the wheel comprises thin metal spokes that can flex https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czrve1zrlg3o
Winchell Chung ⚛🚀Radical, maybe. New? I don't think so.
Artwork by Ed Valigurski for Time-Life Science Library volume Man and Space (1964)
