Vehicle Tires Designed for Extreme
Temperatures in One Sixth Gravity on Crater-Filled Terrain
AKRON,
Ohio, July 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Goodyear
Tire & Rubber Company (NASDAQ: GT) supplied essential products
for NASA's Apollo program, including the Apollo 11 mission which
landed on the Moon 53 years ago today. The company will continue
that tradition—focusing on lunar vehicle tires—by joining Lockheed
Martin (NYSE: LMT) in its development of a lunar mobility
vehicle.
Since Apollo, Goodyear continued innovating alongside NASA
to advance designs for a lunar vehicle tire. The team of companies
intends to be the first to establish extended-use commercial
vehicle operations on the Moon. Goodyear brings its vast expertise
in a mission-critical component to traverse the lunar surface,
tires.
"NASA's Artemis program to live and work on the Moon has a clear
need for lunar surface transportation that we intend to meet with
vehicles driven by astronauts or operated autonomously without
crew," said Kirk Shireman, vice
president of Lunar Exploration Campaigns at Lockheed Martin. "We're
developing this new generation of lunar mobility vehicle to be
available to NASA and for commercial companies and even other space
agencies to support science and human exploration. This approach
exemplifies NASA's desire for industry to take the lead with
commercial efforts that enable the agency to be one of many
customers."
Goodyear is drawing from its advanced airless tire technology
used on Earth with micro-mobility, autonomous shuttles and
passenger vehicles, to advance lunar mobility and withstand the
challenging conditions on the Moon. The companies are already
applying existing expertise to the project including testing
concepts in lunar soil test beds.
"Everything we learn from making tires for the Moon's extremely
difficult operating environment will help us make better airless
tires on Earth," said Chris Helsel,
senior vice president, Global Operations and Chief Technology
Officer at Goodyear. "This will contribute to our end goal of
enabling mobility no matter where it takes place. Just as
important, it is an honor to write history with this prestigious
company who knows how to make giant leaps in exploration and
mobility."
The Apollo lunar rovers were purposely built for just a few days
of use on excursions within five miles of their landing sites.
Future missions will need to traverse rugged terrain over much
longer distances while operating in greater temperature extremes.
New tire capabilities will need to be developed for years of
durability and even survive the night that sees temperatures of
below -250 degrees Fahrenheit and daytime temps of over 250 degrees
Fahrenheit.
Lockheed Martin leads this growing team by leveraging its more
than 50-year-history of working with NASA on deep space human and
robotic spacecraft, such as NASA's Orion exploration-class
spaceship for Artemis and numerous Mars planetary spacecraft. The
company will also manage the development of the program's
commercial business operations and engagement with NASA and global
space agencies. Lockheed Martin has also helped NASA explore
every planet of our solar system, and continues to develop new
technologies for future space missions.
Another teammate, MDA of Canada, recently announced its commercial
robotic arm technology will be used on the human-rated lunar
mobility vehicles. The arm will provide valuable contributions as
support for astronauts as well as enabling greater functionality of
the rover on fully autonomous missions.
Together, the teams are applying unique perspectives and shared
expertise to new challenges and market approaches that are being
considered for the first time. The companies expect to have its
first vehicle on the surface of the Moon in time to support NASA's
first landed mission that will have the first woman and first
person of color walk on the Moon, currently planned for 2025.
About The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
Goodyear is one of the world's largest tire companies. It
employs about 72,000 people and manufactures its products in 57
facilities in 23 countries around the world. Its two Innovation
Centers in Akron, Ohio, and
Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg, strive to
develop state-of-the-art products and services that set the
technology and performance standard for the industry. For more
information about Goodyear and its products, go to
www.goodyear.com/corporate.
About Lockheed Martin
Headquartered in Bethesda,
Maryland, Lockheed Martin Corporation is a global security
and aerospace company that employs approximately 114,000 people
worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design,
development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced
technology systems, products and services. Please
follow @LMNews on Twitter for the latest announcements
and news across the corporation, and
follow @LMSpace to learn more about the latest
technologies, missions and people driving the future of
space.
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SOURCE The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company