A ‘Lunar Centaur’ Could Be Sent To The Moon To Unravel More Of Its Secrets

Japanese space robotics startup GITAI has developed a robot that is set to land on the moon sometime in the future. With four legs and a bodice, this centaur-looking robot is GITAI’s latest creation in partnership with the Japanese space agency, JAXA.  

In footage released by the firm, R1 is captured navigating a moon-like environment. On a dusty and uneven surface, we can see it roving around as it moves its “arms” to pick things up.

The rover also successfully assembled a solar panel on the mock-moon surface, as the company intends to assemble a solar unit on the actual lunar surface to extract data.   

Similar to what NASA has done with the Perseverance rover on Mars, GITAI plans to use the robot to explore, mine, and collect samples from the moon for data analysis back on Earth. In the video, we can see the robot using its claw-like hands to scoop some of the fake moon dust up into a container and store it for its return home.  

The lunar race is picking up speed and with the R1, with Japan posing itself as a formidable opponent to space giants, China, Russia, and The United States. The R1 joins a family of other moon robots that GITAI and JAXA have developed as GITAI makes it known on its website that they intend to touchdown on the moon sometime in the mid-2020s.  

The space race is not only looking to send robots or people to the moon again but it also now includes future manufacturing in space as the forerunners of the race look to develop a permanent lunar base. 

[via CNN and Interesting Engineering, cover image via GITAI]