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Canadensys Aerospace has delivered upgraded lunar wheels to the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) for use on previously delivered Canadensys rover prototypes.
According to Canadensys “the eight wheels are unique in that they are flexible for increased traction and flotation, but do not use typical wheel materials such as rubber. They have been designed to provide long term, robust performance on the lunar surface.”
Peter Visscher, General Manager of the Canadensys said “whereas our line of terrestrial off-road vehicles rely on low-pressure rubber tires to provide good off-road performance, our lunar rover vehicles require a re-think, since rubber will not survive the incredibly harsh lunar conditions. These flexible, metallic wheels are the seventh generation of lunar wheels we have designed, and take advantage of various innovations and improvements we have developed with over a decade of lunar wheel research.”
Christian Sallaberger, Canadensys President and CEO spoke of the long-term relationship with the CSA and said “we look forward to manufacturing the flight-article wheels for the first Canadian lunar rover we are currently designing.”
While Canada has plans to send at least one micro-rover to the Moon as part of Canada’s Moon initiatives, no procurement has been initiated yet for a larger lunar rover.
