Nissan co-develops Japan's lunar rover
Unmanned vehicle said to use car-maker's latest pure-electric all-wheel drive technologyNissan has teamed up with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to create an advanced lunar rover for charting and surveying the moon's surface.
The unmanned vehicle follows in the tyre tracks of the recent Toyota Lunar Cruiser and is claimed to benefit from Nissan's e-4ORCE all-wheel drive control technology that features in the upcoming 2022 Nissan Ariya SUV.
Engineered to tackle the moon's powdery and unforgiving rocky terrain, the new Nissan-developed rover can monitor and control each wheel independently.
Said to have taken almost two years to develop, the biggest challenge facing Nissan was adapting the e-4ORCE tech for better performance on the notoriously difficult sandy conditions.
If you're wondering why the designers didn't spend more time honing its box-on-wheels styling, a lack of air on the moon means aerodynamics don't play much of a role and you can get away with the blocky look.
No performance or even technical details have been released, but the first images of the Nissan-JAXA creation reveal each wheel can be steered independently. Each corner has its own control and suspension module and is driven by an in-hub motor.
JAXA director of the Space Exploration Innovation Hub Center, Ikkoh Funaki, said: "JAXA aims to apply the research results to future space exploration. We are collaborating with companies, universities and research institutes on projects that are feasible and have potential for commercialisation and innovation.
"By conducting research with Nissan, which has expertise in electrified technologies, we hope to apply our findings to the development of higher-performance lunar rovers."
Japan launched its first satellite back in 1970 and has since had multiple lunar and interplanetary space explorations including a successful 2009 resupply of the International Space Station.
In 2022, Japan plans to deploy a rover to the moon's surface using its own HAKUTO-R lander. It's not been confirmed if the Nissan-developed rover will be used on that mission.
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