Moonbots

The Japanese aren't letting the world economic apocalypse get them down. While NASA announced plans to sell the Space Shuttles to the highest bidder and trade the Constellation program for the right to strap our astronauts to Russia's rocket bumpers, Japan has announced its goal of building a robot moon base by 2020. Unlike the little R/C cars we've been sending to Mars, Japanese moonbots will be vaguely humanoid, with two arms, a torso, and a head-like area. Of course, this is strictly required by Japanese laws mandating that all robotic entities be at least semi-fuckable. But still. Having a functional moon base is an important step toward better exploring the solar system. Plus, it'll be a great place for space explorers to get away from the wife for a few days and fuck a robot or two. More details here.