A year ago, auto maker Audi reported it was chipping away at a lunar rover with a group called the Part-Time Scientists. Presently the organization says the plan of its Lunar Quattro is finished, and all that is left is the final testing before it’s prepared to set out toward the moon. In spite of the additional size, the wanderer is presently lighter, conveying it down from 38 to 30 kilograms (what we’d call 66 pounds).
The rover will experience last of its testing in the Middle East where it will go through simulations of the mission. As a point of interest, the mission parameters were set by Google for the Google Lunar XPRIZE. The prize is worth $30 million and will go to the first group to land a privately subsidized rover on the moon, drive it 500 meters, and send back photographs. If the mission is effective, they ought to be able to get some incredible 3D and 360-degree shots of the lunar rover which was deserted by the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, since the proposed landing site is close-by.
The Part-Time Scientists group that Audi cooperated with has additionally reserved a launch for its ALINA lunar lander, which will convey a couple of the Lunar Quattro rovers to the moon’s surface. The launch was planned with Spaceflight Industries and is set for the end of 2017. Spaceflight Industries has overseen 11 rocket launches with various organizations and rockets in 2013 and 2015, and will likewise launch a test from Israeli XPRIZE contender Space IL at some point one year from now on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. It’s exciting to know that a car company such as Audi has expanded their horizons into space exploration. Maybe Thrifty Auto Shipping will eventually end up in the business of transporting cars to the moon too!
