Flat Tire?

Unexpected wheel damage on the Curiosity Rover

During engineering conferences conducted by NASA it has been stated that each of Curiosity's six aluminum wheels is independently actuated and geared, built for climbing in soft sand and rolling over rocks. However, engineers eyeing rover-snapped imagery have been taken aback by the amount of wear and tear on the wheels. It is said to be NASA’s surprise of the year. 

The Curiosity Rover Engineering team always expected to get some holes in the wheels as they drove, it's just the magnitude of what they are seeing which surprise them. According to Jim Erickson, Curiosity Project Manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, they are trying to avoid a particular kind of rock that is causing the damage.

Overall, they're learning how to get to the right paths that are going to minimize, not eliminate, the damage on the wheels. It is said that they have never encountered that kind of hard, embedded rock on Mars before. Based on these findings modifications on the design of NASA's next Mars rover, scheduled to launch in 2020 might be modified

By: Chm1046 Honors Project; Engineering Team: Rene Esusy, Mirtha Echeverria and Resni Cruz