What technology does NASA use to conquer the Martian terrain?

The mysteries of Mars have been studied for centuries. The fourth planet from the Sun is reminiscent of a scarlet desert and has a rugged, difficult-to-traverse surface. While several robotic missions have landed on Mars, NASA has only explored 1% of the planet's surface. Photo: @MLive.

Ahead of future human and robotic missions to the Red Planet, NASA has completed rigorous testing of a prototype rover on simulated Martian terrain. Photo: @ ExtremeTech.

What's special is that this autonomous vehicle uses breakthrough shape memory alloy (SMA) spring tire technology, developed by NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland in collaboration with Goodyear Tire & Rubber. Photo: @NASA.

Because Mars has an extremely rough, uneven rocky surface, durable tires are essential for the rover to move steadily, so shape-memory alloy spring tire technology will help make that happen. Photo: @IEEE Spectrum.

Shape memory alloys are metals that can return to their original shape after being bent, stretched, heated, and cooled, according to NASA's Glenn Research Center. NASA has been using the material for decades, but applying it to the tires of its Mars rover is a new breakthrough. Photo: @ Mashable.

Dr. Santo Padula II, a materials research engineer at NASA's Glenn Research Center, said that at Glenn's Laboratory for Simulated Lunar Operations (SLOPE) (which simulates the surface of the Moon and Mars to help scientists test the performance of the rover), he found that the rover's prototype tires were originally made of steel. Photo: @IEEE Spectrum.

However, according to Dr. Santo Padula II, given the harsh terrain on the surface of Mars, if the tire material of the wheels on this rover does not have a certain degree of plasticity and the ability to recover to its original state, this condition could lead to damage to the entire tire, wheel, or even the entire Mars rover system. Photo: @IEEE Spectrum.

From there, Dr. Santo Padula II, Creager and his team worked together to improve NASA's existing rover tires with a groundbreaking new material: a nickel-titanium hybrid shape memory alloy. Photo: @NASA.

This metal can withstand extreme deformation, but it can quickly return to its original state, allowing the rover tire to return to its original shape even when subjected to strong impacts, something that rover tires made of conventional metals like steel cannot achieve. Photo: @NASA.

And that's how the shape-memory alloy spring tire technology on NASA's Mars rover was born, and experts say this tire technology is just the beginning. Photo: @NASA.

Dear Readers, please watch the video : Actual video of driving on the Moon during NASA's Apollo mission. Video source: @Top interesting.

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