Audi Moonrover to debut in Alien: Covenant blockbuster ahead of mission to the Moon next year

THINK Audi just did cars? Think again as the German company is going interstellar.

Its latest project, the Audi Lunar Quattro rover, will be sent into space to explore the Moon next year – but not before its made its debut on the big screen.

The Audi Lunar Quattro moon rover will appear in Ridley Scott’s sci-fi blockbuster Alien: Covenant as it hunts for the deadly monster alongside Hollywood stars including Michael Fassbender.

Ahead of the film’s release, the rover has appeared in a teaser showing it patrolling the spaceship where it detects an unidentified life form and heads off into the dark.

Throughout the film, the rover plays a vital role in helping to navigate and assess the new planet that features in Alien: Covenant.

The movie is a follow up to 2012’s Prometheus which breathed new life into the 80s Alien franchise.

Audi has previous film experience, too, having provided the RSQ concept for 2004’s I, Robot starring Will Smith but it’s the first time it’s ventured on a real space adventure.

Once the moon rover has finished its stint on the red carpet, it’ll be fired into space to investigate the landing site of Apollo 17 – the last human voyage on the moon – and try to find the NASA lunar rover used on that trip 45 years ago.

The planned 2018 venture will be the first privately-funded mission to the Moon with the Audi Lunar Quattro likely to accompany one of Elon Musk’s £100 million SpaceX rockets.

The rover – which has 3D printed wheels and a solar panel – has been in development for nine years by Berlin start-up Part Time Scientists led by Robert Bohme with Audi providing expertise in plug-in hybrid tech, four-wheel drive systems and lightweight construction.

PT Scientist’s CEO Bohme said: “How often does it happen that real science and technology that’s actually going to space ends up in a Hollywood movie. That’s something that’s amazing for us and is probably amazing for the guys at Hollywood as well.

“So of course it gives some fruit to the guys who are conspiracy theorists who will say our mission is fake, we filmed it in a studio but, you know, who cares?”