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Airless Wheels Could Revolutionize Lunar Rover Design

  //science-technology.news-articles.net/content/2 .. eels-could-revolutionize-lunar-rover-design.html
  Published in Science and Technology on Wednesday, December 17th 2025 at 15:04 GMT by Interesting Engineering

Airless Wheels: The Next Leap for Lunar Mobility

When the Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) rolled across the Moon in 1972, it was the pinnacle of low‑gravity transport technology: lightweight aluminum wheels, a rubber‑treaded rim, and a modest 10‑kilogram mass. Twenty‑five years later, NASA’s Artemis program is already asking the hard question—how can we send a rover that is lighter, more reliable, and far less prone to failure than the LRV? A recently‑unveiled “airless wheel” concept may hold the answer, and according to a report on Interesting Engineering, this design could enable the first truly two‑wheeled lunar rover.

The Problem With Traditional Lunar Wheels

The lunar surface is a dusty, abrasive environment. Regolith (the Moon’s fine “soil”) contains sharp, glass‑like grains that cling to every surface, and the lack of an atmosphere means there is no natural mechanism to wash dust away. The Apollo LRVs, which were essentially treads in rubber, suffered from high rolling resistance, and their wheels were vulnerable to punctures and tearing. Even the modern Lunar Surface Mobility Vehicle (LSMV), under development for Artemis, still relies on conventional wheel designs.

Beyond durability, the weight of tires and the need for mechanical brakes add unnecessary mass to a rover. Every kilogram saved on the Moon translates into a lower launch mass and a higher payload for experiments. It’s clear that a new wheel design—one that eliminates the tire, reduces friction, and can survive the lunar environment—could dramatically improve the efficiency and reliability of future lunar rovers.

How the Airless Wheel Works

The “airless wheel” is a radical departure from the rubber‑treaded design. Instead of a conventional tire, the wheel is a hollow, magnetic bearing system that levitates the outer ring above a stationary inner core. A powerful electromagnet keeps the ring afloat, while a small electric motor spins the ring around its own axis. Because the ring is not in direct contact with the regolith, rolling resistance drops dramatically. The wheel’s design also reduces the surface area that dust can cling to, which in turn lowers the chance of regolith accumulation that could otherwise impede movement.

Key to the concept is the magnetic bearing. In a low‑gravity environment, there is less risk of a “weight‑driven” failure that could occur on Earth. The magnetic field provides a stable, frictionless interface, essentially turning the wheel into a levitating “hollow rotor.” This approach borrows heavily from technologies already used in maglev trains and certain high‑precision laboratory equipment. By leveraging well‑understood magnetic levitation principles, the wheel team can mitigate the risk of entirely new failure modes.

Prototyping and Testing

The developers built a laboratory prototype in a vacuum chamber to mimic lunar conditions. The wheel was mounted on a test track covered with regolith simulant. According to the Interesting Engineering article, the prototype achieved a 50‑percent reduction in rolling resistance compared to a rubber‑treaded wheel of similar size. Moreover, the wheel maintained a consistent speed of 4 km/h (2.5 mph) without any degradation in performance over a 2‑hour run—an encouraging sign for long‑duration missions.

One of the most striking results was the wheel’s resilience to dust ingestion. Because there is no hollow cavity to trap dust, the wheel avoided the buildup that has plagued previous designs. This characteristic also means that maintenance and replacement costs could be significantly reduced. For Artemis, where every kilogram of payload saved translates to more science instruments or a lighter launch vehicle, this is a major advantage.

Enabling Two‑Wheeled Rover Platforms

Armed with an airless wheel, engineers can move beyond the four‑wheel layout that has dominated lunar rovers since Apollo. A two‑wheeled design—akin to a small, articulated bicycle—offers multiple benefits:

1. Weight Savings: Fewer wheels mean a lighter chassis and less drivetrain complexity. The team estimates a 30‑kilogram reduction in rover mass, which is a game‑changer for payload budgeting.

2. Simplified Steering: With only two wheels, steering can be handled by a single differential mechanism, reducing mechanical complexity and potential points of failure.

3. Improved Maneuverability: A two‑wheel platform can navigate tighter spaces and obstacles, a crucial feature when exploring the more varied terrain of the lunar south pole, where Artemis aims to land.

4. Scalability: The same airless wheel design can be adapted for varying payloads, from a lightweight science package to a larger habitat module.

The article highlights a prototype two‑wheeled rover that completed a 100‑meter traverse on regolith simulant in just a few minutes. Engineers say the vehicle maintained excellent stability and had an impressive surface‑to‑weight ratio—an indicator of how robust it could be in real lunar conditions.

Broader Implications for Lunar Exploration

The introduction of airless wheels could be a pivotal moment for lunar missions beyond Artemis. By drastically reducing the mass and mechanical complexity of rovers, the technology could unlock new possibilities for autonomous exploration, sample return missions, and even the deployment of small habitats. The same principles could be applied to other airless bodies, such as Mars, where dust storms and regolith abrasion present significant challenges to mobility.

Furthermore, the article notes that the magnetic bearing system can double as a power‑generation platform. By spinning the wheel at high speeds, energy can be harvested via a generator integrated into the bearing, potentially providing a small, onboard power source for scientific instruments.

Looking Ahead

The Interesting Engineering report emphasizes that while the airless wheel remains in the prototype phase, the results are promising enough to merit further investment. NASA’s Artemis team has already begun preliminary studies to integrate the technology into the LSV (Lunar Surface Vehicle) design. If successful, the first truly two‑wheeled rover could launch with the next Artemis crew, providing a lighter, more efficient means of traversing the Moon’s rugged terrain.

In the grand scheme of things, the airless wheel is more than just a new type of rover component—it represents a paradigm shift in how we think about surface mobility on other worlds. By marrying magnetic levitation with a minimalist wheel design, engineers are turning a century‑old challenge into a future‑ready solution. As Artemis pushes the frontier of lunar exploration, it may well be this small, air‑free wheel that takes humanity a step closer to making the Moon a true stepping stone for deep‑space ambitions.