All space fans, a ‘Moon Rover’ has just been tested in the Qatari desert

Experts say that Qatar’s deserts bear a striking resemblance to the structure and environment of the moon. If your team is taking part in a competition to send a rover to the moon, where would you test it out? In Qatar, of course.

The Audi Lunar quattro moon rover, competing for the 2017 Google Lunar XPRIZE competition, was recently tested out in the Qatari desert.

Audi is supporting a team of German engineers and part-time scientists to make their dream come true, reported Gulf Times. The German auto giants’ assistance comes in the field of quattro all-wheel drive and lightweight construction to electric mobility and piloted driving.

This is the first time the moon rover has had its capabilities practically tested in extreme hot climate conditions after conducting strict lab-based tests in its development phase.

To win the competition, a team — which must be at least 90% privately financed — needs to transport an automated vehicle to the moon. Competition rules state that this rover must drive at least 500M on the moon and transmit high-resolution images and video footage back to Earth.

The lunar vehicle with the Audi lunar quattro must launch into space by the end of 2017 aboard a launching rocket that will travel over 380,000km to the moon.

The trip, which takes five days, will cost approximately €24m. The target landing zone is the north of moon’s equator, close to the 1972 landing site of NASA’s last manned mission to the moon, Apollo 17.

In this region, temperatures fluctuate an enormous 300C; when the sun is shining, it gets up to 120C due to the lack of an atmosphere.

The part-time Scientists, based in Berlin, are the only Germans participating.

The Google Lunar XPRIZE started with 34 teams, and 16 groups remain today.