Sora-Q

Sora-Q

Sora-Q

Miniature Lunar rover

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

  1. [1]
    Hirano, Daichi (7 October 2022). "Palm-Sized Lunar Excursion Vehicle 2 (LEV-2)". JAXA. Archived from the original on 3 October 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  2. [2]
    Rabie, Passant (12 December 2022). "SpaceX Launches Moon-Bound Private Japanese Lander Following Delays". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on 15 December 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  3. [3]
    "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". ispace. Archived from the original on 27 June 2023. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
  4. [4]
    Alt, Matt (21 December 2022). "A Mini Moon Rover from the Toy Company That Created Transformers". The New Yorker. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  5. [5]
    "Japan succeeds in soft landing on the moon, but its lander has a power problem". npr.org. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  6. [6]
    Wall, Mike (25 January 2024). "Japan's SLIM moon lander photographed on the lunar surface — on its nose (image)". Space.com. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  7. [7]
    "Stricken Japanese Moon mission landed on its nose". BBC. 25 January 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  8. [8]
    "Sora-Q Rover, LEV-2, SLIM Mission". Lunar Resources Registry. 1 February 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  9. [9]
    "JAXA Gives Itself 60 Out of 100 for Lunar Landing | JAPAN Forward". 23 January 2024. Archived from the original on 23 January 2024. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  10. [10]
    "Palm-Sized Lunar Excursion Vehicle 2 (LEV-2)". Archived from the original on 3 October 2022. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
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