Nissan Leaf (Photo : www.triplepundit.com)
NASA is now looking into self-driving technology as it partners with Nissan to develop a self-driving car for both Earth and outer space.
According to Engadget, the Japanese automaker and NASA believes that they have much to learn from each other with regards to self-driving technology. Both parties have agreed to collaborate for the upcoming five years to come up with a viable self-driving technology to be utilized not only on Earth, but also for NASA's space missions.
A team from Nissan and the United States' government agency for space programs will be working together at the NASA Ames Research Center. The Nissan-NASA team will first develop robotic cars with zero-emission, which the duo expects the first one to be test-driven before 2015 ends.
Fox News reports that Nissan, who developed its own "Leaf" electric car, is expecting to roll out cars with autonomous driving technology to the market between 2016 and 2020.
Safety features in line with the autonomous driving technology include sensors that make the car break when it detects a possible collision, even without the driver's attention.
However, the Yokohoma-based car manufacturer is not the only company interested in autonomous driving technology, including U.S.-based Ford and General Motors, and Japanese rival Toyota.
Google, which is one of the world's Internet giants, is also finding partners in the auto industry to develop its own autonomous driving technology.
Carlos Ghosn, the Chief Executive Officer of Nissan, told Fox News that the "partnership" will put "the best and brightest" of Nissan and NASA.
