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from the forget-the-puncture-kit,-give-me-a-welding-torch dept.
Chainmail tires re-invent the wheel to get future NASA rovers rolling.
NASA has developed chainmail tires with a memory and thinks they'll do the trick for future rovers.
As readers of The Register's coverage of the Curiosity Rover may recall, the vehicle has experienced considerable wheel damage that has led to changes to its route in 2014 and a 2017 software update to preserve the wheels and provide better grip.
Throw in the fact that it's not yet possible to send a spare wheel to Mars and have it fitted, and NASA has a clear need for more robust tires.
Enter a technology called "spring tires" that use a tubular structure of steel mesh – think tire-shaped chainmail - to cushion rovers as they roll. Spring tires have many fine qualities as the mesh forms a pattern that provides good grip on many surfaces. Mesh is also light by nature and can survive some damage. But spring tires don't deform well: if one rolls over a sharp rock, it can acquire a dent - or "plastic deformation" as NASA boffins put it.
The tires use a nickel titanium alloy that can endure plastic deformation.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Sunday November 26 2017, @01:21PM
One way or another, we should refuel JWST and get it to work for at least 20-30 years. How do you feel about a robotic craft attaching itself to JWST (increasing the mass)?
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]