FLEX rover: Check out this lunar car for astronauts!

Astronauts could soon be taking a road trip on the Moon!

Engineers at Astrolab, a space start-up company, have been testing out a new model rover, which it is hoped will be able to carry astronauts on the next Moon mission.

The Flexible Logistics and Exploration (or FLEX for short!) works a bit like a car and aims to carry two astronaut drivers, as well as heavy equipment, across the rocky lunar surface, travelling at speeds of around 30km per hour!

Although it's currently just a prototype - that means the first model version of it - the makers are hoping that Nasa will pick their rover design to send on their Artemis Moon mission.

The buggy has a section underneath it that can carry samples.

The lunar buggy successfully completed a test-drive in the California desert, in the US recently.

The testing took place over five days, and former astronaut Chris Hadfield helped to take it for a spin.

The desert was chosen as a testing site for the rover because of its tricky terrain which is similar to the surface of the Moon.

The engineers think it could travel up to 60km a day on its missions

This isn't the first time buggies have driven on the Moon, that title goes to the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) from the Apollo 15 mission in 1971.

If FLEX is chosen for the Artemis V mission, it'll be a long time before it'll be laying tracks on the Moon, as the mission won't be taking place until around 2027.