To the moon and back for Toyota’s Cruiser

The six-wheeler Toyota Lunar Cruiser will liftoff in 2029. Photo: Toyota

Toyota’s toughest off-roader is the Land Cruiser so it makes sense that it is going to call its extraterrestrial model the Lunar Cruiser.

That’s the nickname that Japan's biggest automaker has decided for its planned moon rover — a six-wheeled, pressurised, fuel cell-powered behemoth slated for liftoff in 2029.

Toyota said it wanted the name to hark back to the Land Cruiser SUV, one of the Toyota brand's most storied nameplates.

“The name, which references the Toyota Land Cruiser SUV, was decided upon based on the quality, durability, and reliability expected of the pressurised lunar rover, and the concept that Toyota has long held to for the Land Cruiser, which was for people to ‘come back alive’, especially true for the lunar rover as it will be traversing the harsh environment of the moon's surface,” Toyota said in a statement.

Toyota wants its Lunar Cruiser for future international moon mission, led by NASA and joined by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and other groups. 

The Lunar Cruiser would be the size of two microbuses and powered by a hydrogen fuel cell system. Retractable solar panels would help generate electricity for onboard use.

Unlike the moon buggies launched under the Apollo missions of the 1970s, Toyota's rover will have a fully enclosed cabin. It is designed for two astronauts but can accommodate four in an emergency.