Tyres on the moon

Goodyear is working with NASA's Glenn Research Center (GRC) to develop non-pneumatic tyres for use on the moon and eventually on Mars.

'Lunar tyres need to be designed to develop traction on sandy undulated terrain, in regions that humans have never even seen up close,' said NASA Principal Investigator Vivake Asnani.

Asnani is a founding member of the Surface Mobility Technology team at GRC that was created in late 2005 in response to the announcement by President Bush that the US would embark on an initiative to further explore the moon and Mars.

Goodyear was selected to work with GRC because of its experience in previous lunar programs, understanding of vehicle dynamics and computer modelling capabilities.

The Goodyear team working on the new tyres consists of a cross section of research and tyre technology associates at its Akron Technical Center. In the past year, Goodyear has been evaluating the Apollo lunar rover wheel, prototype pneumatic tyres and non-pneumatic concepts to build an understanding of the mechanics of the wheels and the challenges of the lunar environment.