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Yes, but it looks pretty tore up and the treads seem like they're coming completely off. I was under the impression that the wheels would have been built a litt

by 6DM 10y ago

Yes, but it looks pretty tore up and the treads seem like they're coming completely off. I was under the impression that the wheels would have been built a little more sturdy. I know it's not the same, but car tires last for thousands of miles. So you would think that a hyper efficient tire, battle tested on earth terrain, would be designed to last at least 100. This is after 10 miles. Edit: To clarify, I know they are thin and to save on weight. I just never thought it'd be designed to only last 20ish miles. Though another comment has said it will run fine without a lot of this material.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
dahart 10y ago
It's been four years, the wear could be as much a function of time as of travel. Car tires on earth dry out, crack and disintegrate over time. The skin is "about half as thick as a U.S. dime". A car tire that thin wouldn't last a 10 mile drive.
vermontdevil 10y ago
The tires are extremely thin to save on weight. Take a look at a dime and think half of that!
LoSboccacc 10y ago
the wheel skin is 0.75mm thick, and was specifically designed to a goal of 10 to 20 km with the smallest weight possible: the rover mass is 899kg, the launch vehicle totals was 531000kg - by reversing the payload fraction one can see that for every gram of rover one needs more than half kilo of rocket to get it to mars, so there's that - you can get outside of your launch weight real fast. this article has all the answers you're looking for: http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2014/08190630-curiosity-wheel-damage.html http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2014/0819063... short story - the wheel were tested to specification against expected rocks etc but once on the boogie suspension the front wheel had to support weight plus the force of the other wheel pushing, so there's where the extra punctures come from, this is what force was not accounted correctly.

by 6DM 10y ago

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

dahart 10y ago

It's been four years, the wear could be as much a function of time as of travel. Car tires on earth dry out, crack and disintegrate over time. The skin is "about half as thick as a U.S. dime". A car tire that thin wouldn't last a 10 mile drive.

vermontdevil 10y ago

The tires are extremely thin to save on weight. Take a look at a dime and think half of that!

LoSboccacc 10y ago

the wheel skin is 0.75mm thick, and was specifically designed to a goal of 10 to 20 km with the smallest weight possible: the rover mass is 899kg, the launch vehicle totals was 531000kg - by reversing the payload fraction one can see that for every gram of rover one needs more than half kilo of rocket to get it to mars, so there's that - you can get outside of your launch weight real fast. this article has all the answers you're looking for: http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2014/08190630-curiosity-wheel-damage.html http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2014/0819063... short story - the wheel were tested to specification against expected rocks etc but once on the boogie suspension the front wheel had to support weight plus the force of the other wheel pushing, so there's where the extra punctures come from, this is what force was not accounted correctly.