NASA Challenge Tests Wheel Designs for Moon Base Mobility
As NASA prepares to establish the Moon Base, advancing surface mobility will be key to helping crews and robotic systems travel farther across the lunar surface. To help advance that capability, the Rock and Roll with NASA Challenge invited public innovators to design and build next-generation lunar rover wheels. Five teams from 128 submissions and 49 countries advanced to the final phase of the…
NASA engineers, NASA Robotics Academy students, and teams from the Rock and Roll with NASA Challenge showcased their wheel prototypes at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston on July 31, 2026. The competition aimed to advance surface mobility for the upcoming Moon Base. Out of 128 submissions from 49 countries, five teams advanced to the final phase where they tested their prototypes on July 31.
Key requirements for the lunar wheel designs included being lightweight, durable, scalable, compliant for impact absorption, maintaining traction at higher speeds, and withstanding the harsh lunar environment. NASA's Robotics Academy students evaluated the designs using MicroChariot, a 45-kilogram test rover, navigating it through various terrain courses at Johnson's Rock Yard.
The challenge sought to crowdsource innovative lunar wheel designs, offering multiple approaches to meet different vehicle, terrain, and mission needs on the Moon and Mars.
Written by urgent.news from NASA's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
