"Bendix Corp. research labs in Southfield, Mich. Bendix had received a contract from NASA Huntsville for the development of a prototype lunar vehicle.
The mission profile called for a mobile laboratory in which the astronauts could live and also drive across the lunar terrain. One of the most significant technical challenges we faced was how to create a high torque-low speed traction drive system that would “float” the vehicle on loose lunar dust. We didn’t have any insight on the lunar soil characteristics, so we assumed we needed a vehicle with a large footprint for low soil-bearing pressure. Our wheel design consisted of a series of titanium rings or loops that, under vehicle load, would deflect. Essentially, we’d be running on a flat tire. Aviation Week featured the lunar vehicle prototype.
A scale model of our design was on the cover of the December 1964 issue of Aviation Week, along with a story. Wernher von Braun drove a full-scale vehicle chassis and the “flat tire” wheel design at the Bendix Aerospace Systems test track in Ann Arbor, Mich. NASA got a lot smarter about the lunar soil characteristics and the final 1971 Apollo 15 Boeing-designed “dune buggy” did the job. Maybe someday we’ll get back to the moon or Mars, and the mobile lab concept could come alive again."
