Thursday, June 23, 2005
Is Japan trying to get its mind off its troubles?
Or maybe getting a little desperate for new export markets?
Japan wants to help build a lunar base and populate it with advanced versions of today's humanoid robots by around 2025, according to the head of the nation's space agency...Great, they're stuck in a 14-year economic slump over there, piling up national debt higher and faster than any developed country has ever seen ... and want to spend a gazillion yen populating the moon with robots.
As part of the plan, Japan would use advanced robotic technologies to help build the moon base, while redeveloped versions of today's humanoid robots ... could work in the moon's inhospitable environment in place of astronauts, he said in a recent interview. Japan's lunar robots would do work such as building telescopes and prospecting and mining for minerals...
"Honda could develop automobiles for the moon. Many products that are made here on earth can be adapted to operate on the moon" [IDG]Oh, that's the idea -- a new shot at export led growth!
