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Japan Will Send a Transforming Robot Ball to the Moon

posted by martyb on Friday June 04 2021, @08:30PM   Printer-friendly
from the having-a-ball-with-science dept.

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Runaway1956:

Japan will send a transforming robot ball to the Moon:

Japan is prepping an unusual robot to explore the Moon — and it's clearly influenced by the country's tech industry. The Byte reports that the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has teamed up with Sony, Doshisha University and toy maker Tomy on a ball-shaped transforming robot to study the lunar soil ahead of a crewed rover due in 2029.

The 8.8oz bot will arrive in a compact ball that will help the private robotics company Ispace carry the machine aboard its lunar lander. Once on the surface, it'll pop open into a "full" configuration that captures images of the Moon's surface. This will also make the robot useful for future missions, JAXA said.

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 2) by krishnoid on Friday June 04 2021, @08:48PM (1 child)

    by krishnoid (1156) on Friday June 04 2021, @08:48PM (#1141879)

    Along with capturing any other foreign elements [youtu.be] on the surface. Or destroying them, either is good.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 04 2021, @09:34PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 04 2021, @09:34PM (#1141888)

    I want to see it take pictures of the US landers and buggys to help moon landing deniers get over it.
    Still can't find any modern hi-rez orbital pics of that stuff!

    Also, BB-8's Grandpa.