NASA astronauts are to pilot the new Michelin-equipped Small Pressurized Lunar Rover up Pennsylvania Avenue during today’s historic Presidential Inaugural Parade in Washington, D.C. The vehicle is fitted with the company’s specially engineered moon-friendly Tweel tire and wheel assembly.
“We are pleased that NASA, one of the world’s most demanding customers, has selected Michelin to accompany them as millions see this amazing vehicle showcased for the first time,” says David Stafford, chief operating officer of the Michelin Americas Research Co.
“Michelin and NASA have a long history of successful collaboration. For more than 20 years, Michelin has supplied tires for the space shuttle. Over the past three years, we have also worked with NASA to develop a revolutionary tire/wheel assembly for the next generation of lunar rovers,” he notes.
The Small Pressurized Lunar Rover, NASA’s latest lunar rover prototype, will roll from the U.S. Capitol to the White House on the Tweel non-pneumatic tire and wheel assembly, which was named one of Time magazine’s innovations of the year in 2005. As a result of this engineering breakthrough, NASA helped fund a project for Michelin to develop a highly specialized Lunar Wheel for the space agency’s latest collection of moon rover vehicles.
Introduced in 2008, the Lunar Wheel withstands extreme conditions while maintaining flexibility and constant ground contact pressure that enables moon rovers to traverse loose soil and lunar craters. It also has a low mass yet maintains a high load capacity that is 3.3 times more efficient than the original Apollo Lunar Rover wheels.
“Field data taken last November demonstrated that the Michelin Lunar Wheel provides a 50 percent improvement in rolling efficiency over loose soil, compared to a traditional inflated tire,” says Dr. Rob Ambrose, surface mobility lead for NASA’s Lunar Architecture Team. “Michelin met or exceeded our targets in analog lunar testing.”
Designed to provide astronauts with mobility over extreme terrain, the Small Pressurized Lunar Rover features 12 wheels driven by two electric motors through a two-speed transmission, allowing it to perform in “bulldozer” mode with up to 4,000 pounds of force or to cruise at up to 20 kilometers per hour. The modular design also means that the tubular frame can be fitted with several different crew and payload combinations, including the crew cabin that attaches to the rover’s chassis.
In addition to engineering wheels for the Small Pressurized Lunar Rover, Michelin has developed Lunar Wheels for NASA’s Athlete moon rover designed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, as well as for the Scarab moon rover. Both are unmanned lunar vehicles designed to perform various research tasks on the moon.
For more information, visit www.michelin-us.com and www.nasa.gov.
