Desert challenge for Audi lunar quattro

PTScientists head to Qatar to test Moon rover

The Audi lunar quattro Moon rover is coming to Qatar to face its biggest challenge yet, in the heat of the Bir Zekreet desert.

 

PTScientists, the German team of scientists and engineers working on the world’s first private mission to the Moon are coming to Qatar to put their Moon rover to the test. Working with our key technology partner, the world class car maker Audi, we have developed the “Audi lunar quattro” lunar rover, designed to withstand the harsh environment of the Moon and equipped with instruments to solve the mysteries uncovered by the Apollo program over 45 years ago.

 

The Bir Zekreet desert campaign

Audi lunar quattro

Over the past eight years, PTScientists built have built four generations of lunar rover prototypes. Each had to prove their mission readiness in a series of challenging test campaigns all over the world. So far our family of rovers has mastered the deep ice caves of the Austrian Alpine Dachstein Mountains, conquered the volcanoes of Crete, and taken on the Australian outback, the mountains of New Zealand and the test-labs of NASA.

 

Now it is time for the Audi lunar quattro to face the challenge of the Qatari desert, to test whether it will be ready for the extreme environment of the Moon.

 

The team selected the Bir Zekreet desert in Qatar for its terrain test campaign due to the extreme temperatures reached during the Qatari summer. One of the goals is to test the passive thermal management capabilities of the rover as well as checking if it can drive over the fine sand in the desert and manage the steep slopes of the dunes.

 

Quick facts

Where

Bir Zekreet Desert, Qatar

 

When

Target dates for desert testing are 29th and 30th of July 2016. We will conduct the tests in the early morning or late evening hours, depending on the local weather forecast.

 

What

Test the Audi lunar quattro on challenging slopes, rocks and sand dunes in the hot and dry environment of the desert.

Media Contact

Please reach out to media@ptscientists.com for details of how to join us for this test campaign or to schedule interviews with CEO Robert Boehme, or rover driver and head of electronics, Karsten Becker, during their time in Doha.

#Press Release 02.07.2016

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