July 22, 2019—Goodyear recently established an experiment for safer, more efficient tires on a SpaceX rocket to the International Space Station, according The Detroit Free Press.
Astronauts will perform zero-gravity experiments Goodyear designed, producing new rubber compounds that take advantage of the space station's near zero gravity that could have lower rolling resistance and better traction on wet surfaces.
Goodyear discovered that silica behaves differently in zero G than it does on Earth. Mixing space-silica with rubber might, in theory, make better tires. Thus, astronauts will create several different rubber-silica compounds in space. The samples go to Goodyear labs in Akron, Ohio, where they’ll be compared with compounds that are identical.
The experiments should take three or four days. There may be follow-ups if Goodyear needs to learn more.
