Goodyear is working with NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) to significantly evolve the technology and take its capabilities to the rest of the universe, as part of a funded program by NASA’s Innovative Partnership Program (IPP) to develop non-pneumatic tires for use first on the moon, and eventually on Mars.

The IPP Seed Fund was established to advance key technologies to meet critical needs for NASA’s missions.

Because of the unique atmospheric characteristics of the operational environment, "The basic rubber-pneumatic design used on Earth does not have the same utility on the moon," said NASA Principal Investigator Vivake Asnani. "The challenges associated with creating a lunar tire are further complicated by the fact that there are no lunar roads. Lunar tires need to be designed to develop traction on sandy undulated terrain, in regions that humans have never even seen up close. Plus, the prospect of an immobilizing ‘flat tire’ would be devastating to the mission."

Goodyear engineers are used to thinking out-of-the-box in terms of developing entirely new technologies, so thinking "out-of-this-world" was not a stretch, according to Joe Gingo, Goodyear’s executive vice president and chief technical officer. "The mission performance goals for these tires will push known tire technology well beyond its comfort zone," Gingo said, "and I am confident we have the capabilities to do that."

Goodyear Principal Investigator Dave Glemming said the decision to partner with NASA for this initiative was easy. "Not only will the outcome of this project deliver a product that can handle the performance capabilities required for lunar mobility and beyond, we expect the outcome will yield answers to how future non-pneumatic tires may be designed for Earth applications."

Goodyear’s team will consist of a cross section of research and tire technology associates at the Akron Tech Center. During the past year Goodyear has been evaluating the Apollo lunar rover wheel, prototype pneumatic tires and non-pneumatic concepts to build a baseline understanding of the mechanics of these wheels and the challenges of the lunar environment.

In the 1960s, NASA funded over 10 years of intensive research at Goodyear and General Motors to develop the wire mesh moon tire for the Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV). The LRV tire was woven out of piano wire, in order to provide a soft, springy surface to contour to the ground and provide good ride quality. It looks a bit like the skeleton of an Earth tire.

This approach worked very well, because each LRV tire was only required to support about 60 pounds of weight, since all things weigh six times less on the moon than on Earth, and be used for a maximum of 75 miles. The new fleet of lunar vehicles will require tires to support about 10 times the weight and last for up to 100 times the distance. A tire that would meet such requirements would also be useful for commercial applications on Earth, Glemming said.

To extend the utility of this wire mesh tire, the team is first analyzing the original design using computer modeling tools. Furthermore, exact replicates of the tires are being manufactured and tested to find out how and why their load and life are limited. Essentially, the tires will be loaded and cycled until they fail. The Goodyear tire designers and research engineers at NASA GRC will then iteratively design, build, and laboratory-test concept tires to mitigate the failures. The exact nature of these design changes has not been disclosed yet.