The Reason NASA Needed To Reinvent The Wheel For The Mars Rover

The most pressing issue faced by the Mars rover engineering team was the enormous weight of the vehicle itself. In order to deliver a vehicle fit for exploration on the red planet, engineers had to create a much more substantial unit than previous models used on the Moon and on Mars as well. For one thing, these rover tires were being designed with the intention of breaking all previous records for distance in rover capability (via NASA). This means that the rover and its wheels need to be far more durable, to increase overall weight across the unit.

Even before the new weight characteristics were factored into the design however, engineers knew they needed to reinvent the propulsion system on this explorer. Previous experiences driving on the surface of Mars made NASA engineers keenly aware of durability issues in aluminum tires. These had previously been the standard on these types of vehicles. Aluminum is a lightweight and strong material, but when stacked up against a harsh Martian environment, the wheels were shredded, rendering them totally useless. In order to take a crack at more substantial planetary exploration, an increasingly durable system of movement had to be devised (via NASA).