Lunar Landings News and Discussions

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Japan to build NASA a Moon camper van you can drive without spacesuits
By David Szondy
April 14, 2024

When NASA returns to the Moon, its astronauts will enjoy tooling around in a pressurized camper van courtesy of JAXA and Toyota. The two-person vehicle is part of a US/Japan agreement that includes putting the first Japanese astronauts on the Moon.

It's beginning to look like NASA's program to establish a permanent human presence on the Moon will resemble a car show as much as it does a scientific expedition. The space agency recently awarded contracts to develop an open off road vehicle to carry astronauts around on the Moon, though these are small and the driver and passengers have to wear spacesuits. Meanwhile, the Japanese vehicle being developed by JAXA and Toyota is a mobile outpost where the crew can live and work for up to 30 days in a shirt sleeve environment.

No doubt while wearing loud Hawaiian shirts.

https://newatlas.com/space/moon-van-pre ... d-vehicle/

[firestar464]

pov: the moon car gets damaged

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Japan's Lunar Lander Awakens After Its Third Lunar Night
The designers didn't expect it to survive even one night on the Moon.
By Ryan Whitwam April 26, 2024

Japan's first-ever lunar landing didn't have the most auspicious beginning. SLIM (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon) reached the Moon early this year, but it came to rest on its nose with the solar panels at an inconvenient angle. That early misstep is in the past, as the probe proves it has real staying power on the Moon. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) confirms that SLIM has awoken after its third lunar night cycle, and it's still got more to give.

As interest in the Moon has ramped up after decades of focus on low-Earth orbit, we often hear about the limits imposed by long lunar nights. Space agencies and private aerospace firms usually caution as they work toward landings that their hardware is only designed to last a few days or weeks—night on the Moon lasts for the equivalent of two Earth weeks. Although we think of the Moon, and space in general, as frigid, it experiences wild temperature swings. On the Moon, temperatures range from 250 degrees Fahrenheit during the day to -200 Fahrenheit at night (about 120 to -130 degrees Celsius). It can be even colder in shadowed craters, too.

https://www.extremetech.com/science/jap ... unar-night