(Un)inflated Expectations: Airless Lunar Wheel Concept Gets a Workout on Moon Rover Prototypes [Slide Show]
Share
SPACE RACE: Back on Earth, the big tire companies are competing to be the wheel of choice on the moon. In collaboration with NASA, Goodyear has also developed an airless tire for long-range lunar journeys... GOODYEAR
CURB APPEAL: This still, taken from a video of an earlier test, shows how the lunar wheel's flexible elements deform in response to an obstacle, mimicking the pliability of a rubber tire. "We've done a number of wear tests on it, running it into rocks, running it over rough materials," Wettergreen says... MICHELIN
MAKING TRACKS: The chevron pattern of the tire treads shown here is just one that Michelin and NASA have tried out. "We're doing a triage of different solutions, particularly for the tread area, [to see] how we can generate the most tractive force with the minimal amount of wear and added mass," Thompson says... MICHELIN
BETTER TO BEND THAN TO BREAK: Testers loaded the rover's wheels with barbell weights—more than 140 kilograms per wheel. The polyester spokes, pictured here, bend under the strain of the added weight. MICHELIN
Advertisement
AN UPHILL BATTLE: The Scarab rover attempts to scale an incline in loose soil. Engineers are experimenting with tread options for the lunar wheel in an attempt to increase traction while minimizing the amount of power expended in soil-to-wheel contact... MICHELIN
THE WHEEL DEAL: The Michelin lunar wheel, mounted to Carnegie Mellon University's Scarab rover, undergoes testing at NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. The inner portion of the wheel comprises an assembly of rigid aluminum spokes... MICHELIN
![(Un)inflated Expectations: Airless Lunar Wheel Concept Gets a Workout on Moon Rover Prototypes [Slide Show]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/C39A2289-CF72-4065-AA18180CD97EEBA9.jpg?w=590&h=393)
