Michelin is developing airless Moon boots for the next Lunar Rover

It’s been over 50 years since NASA last put a human on the Moon, but later this decade, that’s set to change with the Artemis II mission. And check this: it’s got Michelin on board to design the tyres for a next-gen Lunar Rover too.

We say tyre, but it’s actually a wheel - the two aren't mutually exclusive, remember. Anyway, it’s been made using microplastics, and though it looks like an enlarged bottle cap from an Evian bottle, it’s been successfully tested in temperatures as low as -240 degrees and as high as 100. 

Why? Because the Moon’s surface is horrible - almost as bad as yer average B-road - and consists of rocky debris and a layer of powdery dust, neither of which is particularly easy for conventional tyres to deal with. And that’s before you factor in the solar radiation they’ll be exposed to.

To counter these obstacles, Michelin’s tyre is airless and has been designed with low resistance in mind (which inadvertently helps preserve the Rover’s battery life). It’s also claimed to provide good traction on loose surfaces, which is precisely what you want when you’re bouncing around on the moon doing… whatever it is people do on the moon.

We’re not sure just how far along the development cycle the tyre is right now, but Michelin should issue an update over the next few months as the Artemis II mission starts to really kick into gear.