Photo Gallery: NASA develops tire for Mars missions
David Manley
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A little over a year after the Mars Curiosity Rover landed on Mars, engineers began to notice significant wheel damage in 2013 due to the unexpectedly harsh terrain
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(NASA images, Tire Business Illustration by David Manley)
CLEVELAND While NASA s newest tire is the result of years of research and development, it was a chance meeting between old colleagues that moved it from a unique R&D project to a key piece of an upcoming mission to Mars.
The team at NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland engineered a tire the Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) Spring Tire that can handle the heavy load of a lunar rover while traversing rough, rocky Martian terrain and enduring extreme temperatures.
NASA photo
A nickel titanium alloy allows the SMA Spring Tire to deform and return to shape 20% to 30% more than the previous version. The tire shown here was being tested at the NASA Glenn Research Center.
When I talked to NASA mechanical engineer Colin Creager about space tires Mars rover tires to be exact I asked him about the long wait.
By the time the team finds out if the tires worked, they will have invested at least a decade in building and testing, followed by four years of waiting as the rover is completed and launched into orbit.
Is the waiting the hardest part?
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SMART and NASA Announce First Airless Alloy Tire for Consumers
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The SMART Tire Company is developing the first consumer application of NASA s shape memory alloy tire technology, a futuristic bicycle tire called METL™
METL tires are made from shape memory alloys developed at NASA
Shape memory alloys look extremely promising in revolutionizing the entire terrestrial tire industry LOS ANGELES (PRWEB) March 17, 2021 The SMART Tire Company, in partnership with NASA, is developing the first ever consumer application of NASA s airless shape memory alloy (SMA) tire technology, a cutting edge, eco-friendly bicycle tire called METL™. Originally invented by NASA for use on lunar and Mars rover missions, the SMA tire is made from advanced, lightweight materials known as NiTinol+, creating a tire that is elastic like rubber yet strong like titanium, exhibiting perfect shape memory without ever going flat.
'Nearly indestructible' titanium tires designed by NASA are being developed for bicycles on Earth dailymail.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dailymail.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.