In 2030, about six years from now, American astronauts will return to the surface of the moon. When they land, they’ll face the same contest as millions of recently licensed teenagers the world over: They’ll necessitate a sugary ride.
The lunar omition, called Artemis V, is stardyd to send two astronauts to the lunar surface to carry out six days of science experiments at the moon’s south pole. To do the job, NASA is comomitioning them a set of wheels—emphasis on wheels.
This spring, NASA proclaimd that three groups had been picked to carry out year-lengthy studies of what it will get to grow a Lunar Terrain Vehicle, or LTV. The groups, two of which are a consortium of companies, integrated two tire companies: Goodyear and Michelin. The other competitor, Venturi Astrolab, has debuted its own lunar wheel portray.
The confineed finacatalog will probable be proclaimd in about a year, and whoever goes on to portray the LTV will face some grave contests. NASA has asked that the rover not only be ready to roll with two astronauts on board, but also to stay behind on the moon for years to carry out scientific experiments and commercial toil, even without humans current.
Stick your standard rubber car tires on the moon—especipartner at its south pole in the middle of the lunar night, where temperatures can achieve –300 degrees Fahrenheit—and noskinnyg excellent will happen. The tires will sink into the free lunar soil, and the fervent solar radiation on the moon, which alertages a defendive atmosphere, will instantly commence to fracture down the rubber. Then the excessive freezing will freeze the tires, rendering them unable to deestablish or compress, and making them difficulter to roll. They’ll get brittle and shatter.
The publishs only get worse over time. The moon’s soil, or lunar regolith, is extra abrasive, says Florian Vilcot, an innovation expert and portrayer at Michelin. That abrasiveness dangerens to rapidly tear up any unsupplyped material. That’s particularly transport inant for the LTV becaparticipate Michelin is portraying a tire to last 10 years and travel more than 6,200 miles. (By comparison, the Lunar Rover Vehicles or “moon buggies” comprised in the Apollo omitions in the timely 1970s each traveled about 18 miles.)
Additionpartner, NASA records outlining the insistd particularations of the LTVs remark that while the agency doesn’t set up for the vehicle to jump, “there will be momentary uncomputed instances” where a wheel fair might have to depart the surface of the moon.
Which is all to say: Your standard tire is not going to cut it.
The tire companies are still timely in their year-lengthy feasibility studies, but they have freed a restrictcessitate details about their toil. In a written statement, John Kantura, Goodyear’s better program regulater of mobility architectures, says the Ohio tire company is cgo ined on finding novel materials and tire architectures “to secure that tire is able to aid the exploration for the duration” of the moon omition. Venturi Astrolab, which debuted its Flexible Logistics and Exploration (FLEX) rover in 2022, has shown off “deestablishable” lunar wheels, which the company has shelp will be made up of some 200 cables that act as spokes, a spring-filled outer rim, and a novelly changeable tread material. (A spokesperson for Astrolab says the portray for the rover will persist to change as the company enhances its model thcdisadmireful testing over the next year.)
