NASA’s Titanium Spring Tires Are Nearly Indestructible

November 5, 2022 0 By Saasha

NASA’s Titanium Spring Tires Are Nearly Indestructible :

NASA research engineers have unveiled superelastic titanium spring tires that will help rovers designed for extraterrestrial surfaces carry heavier loads and explore larger areas for longer periods of time. The researchers envision that these new tires could also be used on manned exploration vehicles that would travel at much higher speeds.

The design of NASA’s new tire is also the result of a problem that occurred with the tire used for the 1971 lunar rover brought to the moon by Apollo 15. The lunar rover’s wheels were made of hollow metal springs. They could absorb shock like a rubber air-filled tire, but they didn’t roll effectively because these metal springs deformed over time to the point where they couldn’t return to their original shape.

NASA’s Titanium Spring Tires Are Nearly Indestructible :

To solve this problem, scientists came up with a new type of metal spring tire made from an alloy of nickel and titanium. This latest innovation is the result of years of effort by engineers and scientists. This airless tire contains 800 support springs. It will be able to bend, adapt, absorb impacts and then regain its shape — even after traversing the toughest terrains. In fact, this tire is based on the award-winning airless “spring tire” that NASA developed with Goodyear in the mid-2000s.