Michelin Builds Airless Tire for Lunar Mission

When we think of space we usually think of rockets and space shuttles, not off-roading vehicles. Northrop Grumman, an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company, has been tasked with constructing the Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) for NASA astronauts to use on the Artemis 1 lunar exploration mission and more. To ensure they produce the best off-roading vehicle space has ever seen, Northrop Grumman has teamed up with AVL, Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost, and Michelin to make one super team of experts.

While Northrop Grumman, AVL, Intuitive Machines, and Lunar Outpost all bring their own expertise to the table, Michelin’s main focus for this task is to develop an airless tire for the LTV. Based on past partnerships with NASA and existing airless tire technologies already produced by Michelin, NASA and Michelin will work together to produce an airless tire that meets the qualifications and high standards this tire must withhold in extreme environmental conditions for a lunar mission.

The Artemis missions hope to establish the first long-term presence on the Moon. Using data astronauts collect on the Moon, NASA will be able to learn all they can to someday send astronauts to Mars. The Artemis 1 lunar exploration mission is set to launch spring 2022 but is subject to change. To learn more about the Lunar Terrain Vehicle, visit https://www.northropgrumman.com/space/lunar-terrain-vehicle.

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