Hookie (not to be confused with Hooky, the bass player from Joy Division and New Order) are a team of German motorbike designers. Their latest creation is the Tardigrade, a motorcycle concept built to explore the moon’s surface “and beyond.”

The Tardigrade takes its name from the weirdly resilient micro-animal that is able to withstand all manner of environmental conditions, including exposure to outer space.

Based on Russian designer Andrew Fabishevskiy’s ‘NASA motorycle’, it is built to carry different types of equipment, travelling at up to 15km/h (9mph) with range of around 110km.

The electric drivetrain was provided by Swedish firm Cake.

Much of the bike is 3D printed, including the ultra-light airless wheels which are somewhat confusingly billed as “balloon tyres”.

“One of the biggest challenges are the wheels – there is nothing comparable, nothing suitable or even useful,” explained Hookie co-founder Nico Müller.

“After testing more than five potential wheel sizes, we decided to completely design the wheels ourselves. The star-shaped spoke that makes up the bike’s distinctive design is one of my favourite parts of this project.

“Our developed design is based on a Cake wheel hub, six-spoke parts, a rim barrel, and two rim lips which were made entirely of aluminium. This extremely light but strong construction makes it possible for us to build wheels of this size.”

Hookie says NASA is “speechless” about its creation.

A version of the bike is now on display at the Petersen Automotive Petersen Museum in Los Angeles as part of its ADV Overland exhibition.