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While NASA has been planning to deploy the humanoid robot Robonaut2 to the International Space Station this fall, two private Japanese companies plan to go one step further and get a two-legged humanoid robot to the moon by 2015. The companies are SOHLA (Space Oriented Higashiosaka Leading Association) and the Space Exploration Agency of Japan (JAXA), an organization that has been trying to send robots to the moon since at least 2006.

The robot, named Maido-kun, will cost $10.5 million to build and seems a bit unjustified since sending a wobbling two-legged robotic rover to the crater-pocked face of the moon when four-on-the-floor would be much more practical. But we have to admit, it does sound pretty awesome.

Source: Engadget.