Toyota Motor plans to use regenerative fuel cell technology to power a crewed lunar rover, executives said on Friday, raising the prospect of eventually using the moon’s water ice as an energy source.
Japan is participating in NASA’s Artemis program and plans to have an astronaut at a lunar space station called Gateway as part of that in the latter half of the 2020s.
Toyota has teamed up with Japan’s space agency since 2019 to develop the crewed lunar rover — which it dubbed the Lunar Cruiser — that they hope can be put on the moon in 2029.
Photo: Reuters
“In order to conduct long-term and stable research on the surface of the moon, we are aiming to source various items on site over a long period,” Toyota head of lunar exploration projects Ken Yamashita said.
NASA expects Japan to provide a lunar rover with a 2029 target launch date as a contribution to the Artemis program, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said in presentation materials on Friday.
A fuel cell vehicle uses an electric motor like an electric vehicle, but draws power from a fuel stack where hydrogen is separated by a catalyst to produce electricity.
Toyota said its technology would use solar energy and water to produce hydrogen and oxygen through electrolysis during daylight hours, and the fuel cells to supply electricity at night.
The automaker hopes to secure an order for the lunar rover by autumn of next year. The vehicle is expected to be able to carry two astronauts on mission for 42 days a year and stay in operation for 10 years, it said.
“Our idea is to continue with the lunar rover longer than those 10 years if there’s a company or arrangement that can supply the water needed for that,” Yamashita said, adding that clean water would initially have to be sent into space with it.
Toyota is not expecting to be able to generate water usable for fuel cells from the moon’s ice water or be capable of mining it by itself, but would likely rely on other companies or future developments for that, Yamashita said.
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