Bridgestone is eager to embark past Planet Earth, rolling on some fairly radical ideas for all-in-one wheels designed to traverse the Moon. Its newest creations look extra like inserts to your hand-held kitchen chopper, however they’re designed to help small and medium-sized lunar rovers.

Merely known as second-generation lunar rover tires, they’re made fully of metal. That is as a result of rubber would not actually work in harsh lunar situations; It is extremely vulnerable to excessive temperatures and ultraviolet rays, present in abundance on the Moon. Even when the rubber compound did not deteriorate, it could be exceedingly heavy and rigid. Plus, air-filled tires aren’t optimum to be used within the near-vacuum of area, so that you’d want a tire in any case.

Bridgestone’s answer is to create a steel tire with “tread” on the surface and versatile help buildings principally serving because the wheel. The idea on the decrease left is designed for smaller rovers that weigh much less, therefore the less variety of spokes. The tire on the best is aimed toward medium-sized rovers that may wander into rougher terrain. Bridgestone says it balances weight and with sturdiness and capabililty.

Picture by: Bridgestone

Bridgestone Small Lunar Rover Tire Idea

Picture by: Bridgestone

Bridgestone Medium Lunar Rover Tire Idea

These designs are much like the second-generation lunar tire Bridgestone showcased in 2024, which additionally featured a versatile internal construction however used a metal wool mesh for tread, organized in rectangular pads. All of those are radically completely different from the corporate’s first-generation tire showcased a number of years prior, which kind of seemed like a tire with a completely enclosed coil spring construction. It even had a cool internal wheel that would not look misplaced at Vehicles & Espresso.

Bridgestone will exhibit its newest area tire on the fortieth House Symposium in Colorado Springs, working from April 7-10. The corporate shall be readily available as a part of the Japan House Trade’s show.