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NASA offers $155,000 to design moon tires
- domofutu 1y agohttps://www.herox.com/NASARockandRoll https://www.herox.com/NASARockandRoll
- bell-cot 1y agoThe tricky part - > temperatures that regularly swing between -427 and 250 [F] - while bouncing its way through potholes, over small rocks, etc. When even a "minor" failure might kill astronauts. Is there a cryometallurgist in the house?
- westurner 1y ago> 24 km/h > 18 inch wheels It would probably be best to be able to fabricate lunar transport tires on the moon. Which metals and other carbon-based materials handle temperatures ranging between -427F and 250F? Which of those materials can be fabricated with on the moon? All-electric fusion induction welding would probably work on the moon (without filler gases). "Atomic-level engineering enables new alloys that won't break in extreme cold" (2025) https://phys.org/news/2025-09-atomic-enables-alloys-wont-extreme.html https://phys.org/news/2025-09-atomic-enables-alloys-wont-ext... : "Dual-scale chemical ordering for cryogenic properties in CoNiV-based alloys" (2025) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09458-1 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09458-1
- westurner 1y agoWhat about solar sintering + induction heating of lunar regolith? Basalt, Glass, Molten oxide electrolysis of regolith would yield Oxygen, Silicon, Iron, Aluminum, and Titanium for 3d printing and for solar panels and semiconductors.
- westurner 1y agoIs there a sensor for inside of a rover or a vehicle wheel to sample the regolith falling within the wheel before it pours out to self clear?