Engineering:Sora-Q
Sora-Q is a miniature Lunar rover designed and made by Japanese space agency JAXA, toy manufacturer Tomy, Sony, and Doshisha University.[1]
It was launched to the Moon first on the failed Hakuto-R Mission 1 in 2022,[2][3] and on 2023 Smart Lander for Investigating Moon mission, where it is officially called the Lunar Excursion Vehicle 2 (LEV-2). The rover was successfully deployed and operated after landing on January 19, 2024.[4][5][6][7][8]
The baseball-sized rover has a mass of 250 g and diameter of 8 cm and is equipped with two small cameras. LEV-2 extends its shape to crawl on the lunar surface using two wheels at its sides, a method of locomotion inspired by frogs and sea turtles;[9] it can "run" for approximately two hours.[10]
References
- ↑ Hirano, Daichi (7 October 2022). "Palm-Sized Lunar Excursion Vehicle 2 (LEV-2)". JAXA. https://global.jaxa.jp/activity/pr/jaxas/no088/03.html.
- ↑ Rabie, Passant (12 December 2022). "SpaceX Launches Moon-Bound Private Japanese Lander Following Delays". Gizmodo. https://gizmodo.com/spacex-ispace-lunar-mission-hakuto-r-m1-1849884016.
- ↑ "ispace、2022年末頃の打ち上げに向け、フライトモデル組み立ての最終工程に着手 Hakuto-Rのミッション1と2の進捗報告を実施" (in en). https://ispace-inc.com/news-en/?p=2513.
- ↑ Alt, Matt (21 December 2022). "A Mini Moon Rover from the Toy Company That Created Transformers". The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/science/elements/a-mini-moon-rover-from-the-toy-company-that-created-transformers. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
- ↑ "Japan succeeds in soft landing on the moon, but its lander has a power problem". https://www.npr.org/2024/01/18/1225328376/japan-moon-landing-robot-transformers-jaxa.
- ↑ Wall, Mike (25 January 2024). "Japan's SLIM moon lander photographed on the lunar surface — on its nose (image)" (in en). https://www.space.com/japan-slim-moon-lander-photo-lunar-surface.
- ↑ "Stricken Japanese Moon mission landed on its nose". BBC. 25 January 2024. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-68091389.
- ↑ "Sora-Q Rover, LEV-2, SLIM Mission". 1 February 2024. https://lunarresourcesregistry.com/actual/sora-q-rover-slim-mission/.
- ↑ "JAXA Gives Itself 60 Out of 100 for Lunar Landing | JAPAN Forward". 23 January 2024. https://japan-forward.com/jaxa-gives-itself-60-out-of-100-for-lunar-landing/.
- ↑ "Palm-Sized Lunar Excursion Vehicle 2 (LEV-2)". https://global.jaxa.jp/activity/pr/jaxas/no088/03.html.
External links
{{Navbox | name = Lunar rovers | title = Lunar rovers | bodyclass = hlist | state = | basestyle = background:#DDDDDD;
| group1 = Active | list1 =
- Yutu-2 (2019–present, on Chang'e 4)}}
 |  |
