Posted on 02/09/2022 5:35:30 AM PST by Red Badger
Hookie Co. has created this fully-electric motorcycle designed to play a part in interstellar mobility. The Tardigrade is a 8.5 feet long fully-electric motorcycle with a tubular exoskeleton that has a 68 mile range when fully charged. This won’t replace the rover but adds an additional source of transportation on the moon's surface, and while on Earth the Tardigrade is 300 lbs. On the moon, the motorcycle will only weigh 50 lbs. Learn more at Autoblog.com
VIDEO AT LINK......
Transcript: Moon motorcycle concept. The Tardigrade is not your average motorcycle designed by the German-based company Hookie. This concept is for astronaut transportation on the moon. The electric bike is 8.5 feet long with a tubular exoskeleton. When fully charged, the Tardigrade has a max range of 68 miles, and while the moon motorcycle weighs 300 lbs on earth. It will only be 50 lbs thanks to the moon’s gravitational force. Tardigrade will be exhibited at the Petersen Automotive Museum.
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In early 2020, NASA asked automakers to help it develop the next lunar rover. It hasn't requested a lunar motorcycle, at least not yet, but that didn't stop Germany's Hookie from designing one. Called Tardigrade, the concept will be displayed in the Petersen Automotive Museum.
The goal wasn't merely to create a series of eye-catching renderings; the Tardigrade is a real motorcycle developed with lunar exploration in mind. Shaped like nothing else on the market, it's characterized by an almost flat silhouette, an ultra-thin seat, and handlebars uniquely positioned near the middle of the wheelbase. The steering system is electronic, according to Visor Down, and it's controlled by an app and an electric motor. There's also a tubular exoskeleton made with aluminum mounted around the battery pack and a pair of airless tires.
"We wanted to make the Tardigrade as realistic as possible. Additionally, the design should be modular as far as possible in order to be able to use it for future interstellar projects," Hookie explained. It added that the Tardigrade is capable of carrying both people and gear.
Hookie notes that the Tardigrade (a name borrowed from an eight-legged micro-animal) stands 2.9 feet tall and stretches 8.5 feet long. It's entirely electric, the powertrain was provided by a Swedish firm named Cake, and it offers astro-riders a maximum range of about 68 miles. It weighs a little under 300 pounds, so it's not unusually heavy for a motorcycle; the Harley-Davidson LiveWire weighs around 560 pounds. Besides, it'll weigh 50 pounds in the moon's one-sixth gravity.
While nothing suggests the Tardigrade will make its way to the moon anytime soon, it's headed to the Petersen Automotive Museum in October 2021. It will be part of the ADV:Overland exhibition, which shines light on adventure machines built for our planet and beyond.
https://www.autoblog.com/2021/10/14/hookie-tardigrade-moon-motorcycle/#slide-2354858
Moon Motorcycle Ping!...................
Set the solar system record for longest rooster tail.
fully-electric motorcycle
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I guess there is a Co2 emission problem on moon too?!
And the tallest!...............
How many lunar landers can you jump over with it?
Now it will have an ozone problem.......................
All of them.....................
I hope my legs don’t break...shredding on the Moon...
Why not use the Honda big wheel concept with a EV setup.
I guess when money is no object engineers will reinvent the wheel.
Any mishap or misadventure could be fatal to the astronaut.
Need to find a Snake River Canyon stand in for our next lunar Evel Knievel.
Not impressed after watching the video. It looks like a freshman ME class design concept.
Just getting there could be fatal to the astronaut..............
Wheels are too narrow for the rocky terrain and would wreck quickly.
There’s lots of flat, open terrain there too.................
Their spacesuits are bulky and to a point clumsy; expectations to master the bike on the Moon and never fall likely not be very high.
Any spill from the bike risks breaching the integrity of their spacesuit.
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