Featured Image Credit: NASA
We've seen social media stars test-drive everything from supercars to the worst of cars.
Some influencers show off their flashy vehicles on the roads while others keep them locked away in hidden facilities.
YouTube sensation MrBeast showcases some of the world's fastest vehicles in his content, other content creators have investigated whether the worst-rated electric vehicles truly deserve their negative reputations.
Hint: some do.
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Now, you might be thinking the most expensive car ever made would be a Ferrari or a Rolls-Royce. But it's actually Boeing vehicle, costing around $281 million to develop in today's money.
But surprisingly, this vehicle wasn't designed for speed, luxury, or even driving on Earth, for that matter.
During the early 1970s, NASA hired Boeing and Delco to engineer a compact electric vehicle that astronauts could drive on the Moon's surface. The contract was initially worth $19 million, but developing a vehicle capable of enduring the harsh conditions of space travel proved to be more challenging. As a result, the final contract cost came to $38 million, which is about $281 million today.
Weighing just 463 pounds, the final Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) was a battery-powered 'dune buggy' and lighter than many small cars on Earth. But don't be fooled by its size as the vehicle could carry up to 1,080 pounds of astronauts, tools and gear.
Four small electric motors generated a combined output of around one horsepower, roughly the same as a lawn mower.
The top speed? Around 8mph.
However, during the Apollo 17 mission, astronaut Eugene Cernan managed to reach 11.2mph, maintaining the speed record for Moon surface travel.
According to the National Air and Space Museum, the LRV was classed as 'wheeled spacecraft,' but was actually operated with a spacecraft 'stick' and could move forward and backwards. It also featured a communications antenna and a television camera.
The space agency only built a handful of these lunar vehicles, and three were actually used during the Apollo 15, 16, and 17 missions. While the vehicles served as essential explorers for lunar missions, returning them to Earth wasn't feasible as the spacecraft lacked enough cargo space.
Three of the lunar rovers are still parked on the Moon today, roughly 238,900 miles away from Earth. This makes them the most expensive and most remotely parked cars in existence.
