Moon shot: Toyota Motor Corp, Japan space agency plan lunar mission

'It's an extremely challenging project, and we have high hopes for Toyota's technology', says an astronaut

Toyota Motor Corp is scoping out a new frontier: lunar rovers. 

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is teaming up with the country’s largest carmaker to build a six-wheeled self-driving transporter that can carry two humans for a distance of 10,000 km. They’re aiming to land a vehicle on the moon in 2029.

The announcement comes less than a week after Tesla Inc. co-founder Elon Musk’s SpaceX docked a craft at the International Space Station. Toyota’s fuel-cell technology will power the rover, which will be big enough for two astronauts,” said Shigeki Terashi, an executive vice president at Toyota.

“It’s an extremely challenging project,