Audi Lunar Quattro

Last updated
Audi Lunar Quattro Audi Lunar Quattro2.jpg
Audi Lunar Quattro

Audi Lunar Quattro (ALQ) is type of small lunar rover created by a team of engineers from Germany, PTScientists, with the support of Audi and a number of scientists and companies from different countries in 2015. [1]

The rover made a brief media appearance in "Alien (Covenant)" as part of a collaboration between Audi and Twentieth Century Fox. [2]

The flight to the Moon was planned for October 2021 on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 two-stage rocket, but did not proceed. No further announcements on the apparent launch have been made. [3] The rover is made from magnesium-based alloys. The total mass of the lunar rover is 35 kg, and will be capable of a maximum speed of 3.6 km/h. Its four electric motors are powered by solar panels and lithium-ion batteries. [4]

Related Research Articles

The straight-five engine is a piston engine with five cylinders mounted in a straight line along the crankshaft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Audi A6</span> Motor vehicle

The Audi A6 is an executive car made by the German company Audi since 1994. Now in its fifth generation, the successor to the Audi 100 is manufactured in Neckarsulm, Germany, and is available in saloon and estate configurations, the latter marketed by Audi as the Avant. Audi's internal numbering treats the A6 as a continuation of the Audi 100 lineage, with the initial A6 designated as a member of the C4-series, followed by the C5, C6, C7, and the C8. The related Audi A7 is essentially a Sportback (liftback) version of the C7-series and C8-series A6 but is marketed under its own separate identity and model designation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Audi R8</span> Mid-engine sports car made by Audi

The Audi R8 is a mid-engine, 2-seater sports car, which uses Audi's trademark quattro permanent all-wheel drive system. It was introduced by the German car manufacturer Audi AG in 2006. Production ended in the first quarter of 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Audi Q5</span> Mid-size crossover SUV introduced by Audi in 2008

The Audi Q5 is a series of compact luxury crossover SUVs produced by the German luxury car manufacturer Audi from 2008. The original first-generation model was the third member of the B8 family to be released after the Audi A5 and fourth-generation A4, all being based on the Audi MLB platform. The second generation Q5 debuted in 2018 and shares the Audi MLB Evo platform with the corresponding B9 versions of the A4 and A5.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Audi Q3</span> Luxury SUV made by Audi

The Audi Q3 is a subcompact luxury crossover SUV made by Audi. The Q3 has a transverse-mounted front engine, and entered production in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rover (space exploration)</span> Space exploration vehicle designed to move across the surface of a planet or other celestial body

A rover is a planetary surface exploration device designed to move over the rough surface of a planet or other planetary mass celestial bodies. Some rovers have been designed as land vehicles to transport members of a human spaceflight crew; others have been partially or fully autonomous robots. Rovers are typically created to land on another planet via a lander-style spacecraft, tasked to collect information about the terrain, and to take crust samples such as dust, soil, rocks, and even liquids. They are essential tools in space exploration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SELENE-2</span>

SELENE-2, or the Selenological and Engineering Explorer 2, is a cancelled Japanese robotic mission to the Moon that would have included an orbiter, a lander and a rover. It was intended as a successor to the 2007 SELENE (Kaguya) lunar orbiter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Audi A7</span> Executive luxury five-door liftback coupé

The Audi A7 is an executive five-door liftback produced by Audi since 2010. The coupé variant of the Audi A6 saloon/estate, the Audi A7 features a sloping roofline with a steeply raked rear window and integrated boot lid, and four frameless doors. An extended-wheelbase three-box, four-door saloon derivative called the A7L has been produced in China since 2021.

Planetary Transportation Systems (PTS), formerly known as PTScientists and Part-Time Scientists, is a Berlin-based aerospace company. They developed the robotic lunar lander "ALINA" and seek to land on the Moon with it. They became the first German team to officially enter the Google Lunar X-Prize competition on June 24, 2009, but failed to reach the finals in 2017 for lack of a launch contract. During the summer of 2019, the company filed for bankruptcy, and the ALINA project was put on hold. In July 2021, PTS was selected with ArianeGroup to build ESA's ASTRIS kick-stage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lunar rover</span> Vehicle that travels on the Moons surface

A lunar rover or Moon rover is a space exploration vehicle designed to move across the surface of the Moon. The Apollo program's Lunar Roving Vehicle was driven on the Moon by members of three American crews, Apollo 15, 16, and 17. Other rovers have been partially or fully autonomous robots, such as the Soviet Union's Lunokhods, Chinese Yutus, Indian Pragyan, and Japan's LEVs. Five countries have had operating rovers on the Moon: the Soviet Union, the United States, China, India, and Japan.

The (Japanese) Lunar Exploration Program is a program of robotic and human missions to the Moon undertaken by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and its division, the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS). It is also one of the three major enterprises of the JAXA Space Exploration Center (JSPEC). The main goal of the program is "to elucidate the origin and evolution of the Moon and utilize the Moon in the future".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Audi Q8 e-tron</span> Battery electric mid-size luxury crossover SUV

The Audi Q8 e-tron is a battery electric mid-size luxury crossover produced by Audi since 2019. The e-tron was unveiled as a concept car at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show. The final production version was revealed in San Francisco on 17 September 2018, publicly debuted at the 2018 Paris Motor Show, and was first delivered in May 2019. It is the company's first battery electric mass production car. The Sportback variant, a coupe style of the e-tron, entered production in 2020.

<i>Yutu-2</i> Chinese lunar rover

Yutu-2 is the robotic lunar rover component of CNSA's Chang'e 4 mission to the Moon, launched on 7 December 2018 18:23 UTC, it entered lunar orbit on 12 December 2018 before making the first soft landing on the far side of the Moon on 3 January 2019. Yutu-2 is currently operational as the longest-lived lunar rover after it eclipsed the previous lunar longevity record of 321 Earth days held by Soviet Union's Lunokhod 1 rover. Yutu-2 is the first lunar rover ever to have traversed the far side of the Moon. By January 2022, it had travelled a distance of more than 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) along the Moon's surface. Data from its ground penetrating radar (GPR) has been used by scientists to put together imagery of multiple layers deep beneath the surface of the far side of the Moon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Audi R8 (Type 42)</span> Sports car

The Audi R8 is the first generation of the R8 sports car developed and manufactured by German automobile manufacturer Audi. Conceived in 2003 in concept form, the R8 was put into production in June 2006. The Type 42 is based on the Lamborghini Gallardo and shares its chassis and engine. Audi's parent company Volkswagen Group owns Lamborghini as well and components of both of the cars were shared mainly to save development costs. Production of the Type 42 ended in August 2015, following the introduction of the Type 4S at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show which was based on an entirely new platform.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Audi e-tron GT</span> Battery electric executive car

The Audi e-tron GT is a battery electric executive car produced by Audi since late 2020 as part of the e-tron battery electric sub-brand, and the third fully electric car model, after Q8 e-tron and Q8 e-tron Sportback SUVs. It is also Audi's first full-sized electric sedan, and the RS e-tron GT, put on the market in 2021 is, in terms of 0-60 times, the fastest Audi sedan to date. Based on the J1 platform shared with the Porsche Taycan, the car went on sale in March 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Lunar Research Station</span> Planned International lunar base

The International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) (Chinese: 国际月球科研站, Russian: Международная научная лунная станция) is a planned lunar base currently being led by Roscosmos and the China National Space Administration (CNSA). The ILRS will serve as a comprehensive scientific experiment base built on the lunar surface or in lunar orbit that can carry out multi-disciplinary and multi-objective scientific research activities including exploration and utilization, lunar-based observation, basic scientific experiment and technical verification, and long-term autonomous operation. Statements from Roscosmos and CNSA underline that the project will be "open to all interested countries and international partners." ILRS construction missions are expected to begin after the completion of the Chang'e 8 mission in 2028.

<i>Yaoki</i>

Yaoki is a Moon rover made by Japanese company Dymon to be launched in 2023 by American company Astrobotic Technology on their Peregrine lunar lander. Yaoki was first announced in 2019.

References

  1. "Home". PTScientists. Archived from the original on 2008-05-05. Retrieved 2019-07-28.
  2. "Moon rover Audi lunar quattro featured in "Alien: Covenant"". Audi MediaCenter. Archived from the original on 2021-12-09. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
  3. "Press release". mission-to-the-moon.com. Archived from the original on 2019-03-23. Retrieved 2019-07-28.
  4. Radu, Mihnea (June 25, 2015). "Audi Sending a Rover to the Moon, Competing in Google Lunar XPRIZE". autoevolution.