A Japanese toy company’s transformative lunar exploration robot, which is expected to land on the surface of the moon on the 26th of this month, will be sold to the public.
Takara Tomy officially launched ‘SORA-Q’ on the ‘SLIM’ moon lander at the end of last year through its official channel on the 17th as the ‘Sora-Q Flagship Model’ from September 2nd.
‘Sorakyu’ was jointly developed by Takara Tomy, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Sony, and Doshisha University. A small transforming robot the size of a baseball, it was born as part of JAXA’s ‘Space Exploration Innovation Hub’ project, and is currently participating in the ‘HAKUTO-R’ moon landing mission of ispace, a private Japanese space development company in progress
This robot moved the technology of Takara Tomy, which made various transforming robot toys. As soon as it touches the surface of the moon after the ‘slim’ probe is ejected, the two bodies expand and begin to drive. Depending on the terrain, it is possible to drive in crawl or butterfly mode.
According to the official specifications, SoraQ is a small and light robot with a diameter of about 8 cm and a weight of about 250 g. Its main mission is to demonstrate microrobot exploration technology in the low gravity environment of the moon.
Takara Tomy explained, “‘Sorakyu’ is designed to run freely on the regolith (sedimentary layer) that covers the surface of the moon,” and “a small computer mounted on the fuselage can collect, store and transmit active logs to Earth.” .
“The two front and rear cameras mounted on the fuselage take pictures of the surroundings of the lunar surface and send the pictures to Earth,” he said.
Sorakyu will be recorded as Japan’s first transforming robot for the moon when the ‘slim’ lander lands on the lunar surface on the 26th. Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi (57) attended the press conference announcing the launch, raising the mood.
An official from Takara Tomy said, “The commercially available model is a commercialized model based on the current ‘Sorakyu’.” “The appearance is the same as the current ‘Sorakyu’, and it is controlled remotely with a smartphone app,” he added, “some game elements were also introduced.”
‘Sorakyu’, which will be released on the market, is lighter at 170g without data transfer function. The price set by Takara Tomy is 27,500 yen (about 270,000 won). Rather than realizing short-term sales profits, the company’s position is that it would be nice if it were an opportunity for children to become interested in space.
Meanwhile, the ‘Slim’ probe with ‘Sorakyu’ and the UAE’s first lunar probe ‘Rashid’ are expected to land on the surface of the moon on the 26th. If this happens, Japan will be the fourth country in the world to send exploration equipment to the moon, following the United States, Russia and China.
Reporter Jeong Ian anglee@sputnik.kr
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