Nissan lunar rover breaks cover

Nissan has pulled the covers off a new lunar rover prototype, potentially destined for research missions on the surface of Earth's moon.

Designed and built as part of a collaboration with Japan's national Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the autonomous vehicle is, according to Nissan, capable of "traversing the moon's powdery, rocky and undulating terrain."

Power comes from four independent electric motors mounted within the hubs, and the Japanese automotive giant claims its ‘e-4ORCE’ all-wheel drive technology – as fitted to the all-new Ariya electric SUV – delegates torque to each corner.

However, the real-world engineering link between Nissan's road-going vehicles and new celestial exploration tool is not entirely clear.

Further, it's yet to be confirmed when, or if, the rover will be deployed on an interplanetary mission.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) director, Ikkoh Funaki, said: "[We] aim 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."

Meanwhile, Nissan engineer, Toshiyuki Nakajima, said: "The uses of automobiles and driving situations are wide-ranging – We aim for the ultimate driving performance through our research and development, and believe the knowhow gained from this joint research with JAXA will lead to innovations in our vehicles that will bring benefits to customers.”

Earlier this year, the Australian federal government confirmed plans to build a rover locally for NASA's 2026 moon mission. You can read about those plans in full by clicking here.