NASA’s Chainmail Tires for the Moon and Mars
NASA would go ahead and reinvent the wheel—and they have. In fact, it has been a necessary process, what with the Mars Rover launch planned in 2020. In an attempt to maximize both traction and durability, NASA engineer Colin Creager and materials scientist Santo Padula switched materials from the usual steel to a stoichiometric nickel-titanium alloy. Composing the tire from interlocking coils of this alloy meant that a chainmail like weave allows the tire to deform down to the wheel hub and spring right back up to its original shape easily. Read more at The Drive.
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