01 Mar 06
The Terranaut is 'intended for explorers and those customers with a spirit of adventure who want to travel to the extreme corners of the globe,' and 'conceived to serve as a mobile working environment for scientists, geologists, archaeologists or other adventurers who travel to the most challenging environments on the planet either for their work - or pleasure.'
Designed at Nissan's centre in Paddington, London, the Terranaut can seat three and is fully kitted-out with computer and communications technology, with a laboratory-style area for analysis. It has an asymmetric layout, with one door on the passenger side of the car and a pair of clamshell-style doors on the driver's side for easy access to the lab section, which contains a single revolving seat with integrated computer keyboard and 360-degree access to the workstations. The lab section is under a glass-domed roof.
Enabling the Terranaut to traverse desert sand, Antarctic ice, forest trails and remote regions are specially built 19" Goodyear tyres, said to be completely puncture-proof. These can, with a change of air pressure, transform from conventional road tyres to chunky off-road rubber.
