Bridgestone's Two New Lunar Rover Tire Prototypes Use Thin Metal Spokes Instead Of Air-filled Rubber

Bridgestone is getting fresh to unveil 2 caller prototypes of their second-generation lunar rover tires astatine nan Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) booth during nan 40th Space Symposium. These tires are designed for mini and medium-sized rovers, and they’re lighter than nan ones they revealed past year. The updates are each astir making them activity amended connected nan Moon, wherever it’s ace basking aliases cold, there’s nary air, and nan crushed is covered successful fine, scratchy particulate called regolith.

What’s different from past year? Bridgestone isn’t spilling each nan tech secrets successful their announcements up of nan event, but we cognize they’re building connected their “AirFree” idea, which uses bladed metallic spokes alternatively of air-filled rubber. This was a item of nan first-generation tires, inspired by camel footpads for amended traction connected loose regolith. The caller ones astir apt tweak this—like possibly thinner aliases bendier spokes, aliases a caller shape connected nan tyre to make them lighter but still reliable and grippy. They’ve besides hinted astatine utilizing machine models to cleanable nan design, truthful you mightiness perceive immoderate talk astir that astatine nan event.

Here’s different hint astir nan caller design: Bridgestone teamed up pinch Astrobotic Technology successful October 2024, and that mightiness link to this. They’re moving together connected tires for Astrobotic’s 24U CubeRover, a rover astir nan size of a stove pinch large plans for Moon trips. It’s not 100% judge these tires are for that rover, but nan timing lines up. The symposium mightiness springiness much hints astir really this teamwork affects nan tires—maybe a small show aliases a mention during nan April 9 talk pinch Toyota, Idemitsu Kosan, and nan Space Foundation.