London: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) together with tyre maker Goodyear have developed a space tyre that will never puncture.
The new airless 'Spring Tyre' improves on the wire-mesh designs employed on the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) driven by astronauts on Apollo missions 15 to 17 (1971 and 1972), reports New Scientist.
Conventional pneumatic tyres are unsuitable, because they can puncture and the extreme temperatures and solar radiation can degrade the rubber.
The tyre is constructed out of 800 weight-bearing springs and is designed to carry much heavier vehicles over much greater distances than LRV tyres could manage across the bumpy surface of the moon.
The high-tech tyre also won the 2010 R and D 100 award for innovation last week.
ANI
First Published: Tuesday, November 16, 2010, 21:24