Goodyear boldly goes to develop tires for future Moon rovers

Akron, Ohio – Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. is working to supply lunar vehicle tires as part of a Lockheed Martin programme for the development of a lunar mobility vehicle.

The project team of companies intends to be the first to establish extended-use commercial vehicle operations on the Moon, explained the US tire maker in a 20 July release.

"NASA's Artemis program to live and work on the Moon has a clear need for lunar surface transportation that we intend to meet," said Kirk Shireman, vice president of lunar exploration campaigns at Lockheed Martin.

"We're developing this new generation of lunar mobility vehicle to be available to NASA and for commercial companies and even other space agencies," Shireman added in the Goodyear press statement.

Goodyear said it is drawing from its airless tire technology used on Earth to develop tires able to withstand the challenging conditions on the Moon.

Future Apollo lunar rovers will need to traverse rugged terrain over long distances while operating in greater temperature extremes, noted Goodyear.

New tire capabilities, it added, will need to be developed for years of durability and even survive the night that sees temperatures as low as -130°C and daytime levels of over 120°C.

"Everything we learn from making tires for the Moon's extremely difficult operating environment will help us make better airless tires on Earth," said Chris Helsel, Goodyear senior VP, global operations and CTO.

Goodyear’s role on the project builds on a heritage of supplying products for NASA's Apollo programme – including the Apollo 11 mission which landed on the Moon 53 years ago.