Photo: Nissan
One of the biggest events for the commercial vehicle market is in full swing in Hannover, Germany, where all the brands that mean something for this segment have come together to present the incredible cargo haulers of the future.
But for Nissan, cargo was not reason enough to show up in Hannover, at least not this year. For 2018, a year dominated by a revived human appetite for space exploration, Nissan though best to cook something up together with none other than the European Space Agency (ESA).
Taking a Navara pick-up truck as a corner stone, Nissan brought the automotive and space industries together in the Dark Sky Concept, a combo between a go-anywhere heavy-duty off-roader and look-everywhere astronomy lab on wheels.
The concept currently being shown in Hannover is comprised of the actual pickup and a trailer that houses an observatory-class telescope.
The car itself is packed with the technology required to take the Navara to places high enough to avoid light pollution: ProPILOT, Intelligent Around View Monitor system upgraded to support towing, Blind Spot Warning for the trailer and Intelligent Towing Hitch Alignment.
As a bonus, a battery pack not unlike the one used on the Leaf electric vehicle has been fitted to ensure auxiliary power supply for the telescope.
This star-gazing tool is an ultrahigh-power PlaneWave telescope that is towed behind the Navara in a refrigerated atmosphere inside the trailer. The low temperature is required for the tool to remain stable and calibrated while in transit.
Once the desired destination is reached, the roof of the trailer is opened, and the 40-centimeter mirror of the telescope starts looking at the stars. ESA says this telescope is powerful enough to get detailed views beyond the rings of Saturn.
Whatever the telescope finds can be interpreted with the help of the laptop station fitted inside the Navara, complete with wireless and UHF transmission.
Nissan didn’t elaborate much on plans for making this concept a production version for astronomers, but said that after the Hannover event it will “donate the telescope to pass on the spirit of exploration and adventure, and to inspire and educate future generations.”
Taking a Navara pick-up truck as a corner stone, Nissan brought the automotive and space industries together in the Dark Sky Concept, a combo between a go-anywhere heavy-duty off-roader and look-everywhere astronomy lab on wheels.
The concept currently being shown in Hannover is comprised of the actual pickup and a trailer that houses an observatory-class telescope.
The car itself is packed with the technology required to take the Navara to places high enough to avoid light pollution: ProPILOT, Intelligent Around View Monitor system upgraded to support towing, Blind Spot Warning for the trailer and Intelligent Towing Hitch Alignment.
As a bonus, a battery pack not unlike the one used on the Leaf electric vehicle has been fitted to ensure auxiliary power supply for the telescope.
This star-gazing tool is an ultrahigh-power PlaneWave telescope that is towed behind the Navara in a refrigerated atmosphere inside the trailer. The low temperature is required for the tool to remain stable and calibrated while in transit.
Once the desired destination is reached, the roof of the trailer is opened, and the 40-centimeter mirror of the telescope starts looking at the stars. ESA says this telescope is powerful enough to get detailed views beyond the rings of Saturn.
Whatever the telescope finds can be interpreted with the help of the laptop station fitted inside the Navara, complete with wireless and UHF transmission.
Nissan didn’t elaborate much on plans for making this concept a production version for astronomers, but said that after the Hannover event it will “donate the telescope to pass on the spirit of exploration and adventure, and to inspire and educate future generations.”
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