Ultimate new Overlander by Toyota

[Commander Overlander]

Toyota released its ultimate Overlander, for the Moon!

Japan Taps Toyota to Build Futuristic Moon Rover

Japan wants to build the ultimate moon rover for astronauts and has tapped Toyota to help develop a futuristic, off-road, lunar vehicle that could potentially launch in 2029.

www.space.com

 

[Anak]

What is this country coming to?

All we can do is put a Tesla in orbit? And we are going to let another country be the first to put a car on the moon?

Man, have we ever slipped.

 

[J.W.]

And we are going to let another country be the first to put a car on the moon?

Man, have we ever slipped.

Nah, we put one on the Moon in ‘71.

Lunar Roving Vehicle

 

[OtherOrb]

See my profile pic.

The Apollo astronauts trained to drive on the Moon in the cinder hills of Flagstaff, AZ. They finally drove on the Moon during Apollo 15 in 1971.

The USSR had put a rover on the Moon in 1970.

The Opportunity rover (about the size of a small golf cart) had driven >45 km on Mars by the end of its 90-day mission that lasted 14 years from 2004 to 2018.

The Curiosity rover is still going and has driven more than 20 km. It's nuclear powered and the size of a Mini Cooper. Its nuclear fuel will eventually run out, so it's likely that it will not beat the >45 km record of Opportunity.

Driving Distances on Mars and the Moon – NASA Mars Exploration

This chart illustrates comparisons among the distances driven by various wheeled vehicles on the surface of Earth's moon and Mars.

mars.nasa.gov

I give a public-interest science talk titled "Cars on Mars."
I am often asked why JPL doesn't design cars for driving on the Earth.