Metl: the bike by NASA

Metl is the bike realized by the Nasa in cooperation with the Smart Tyre Company, with unbreakable tyres, as a martian rover. Let’s discover it together.

The unbreakable tyre

The “almost unbreakable tyre” developed by the Nasa in cooperation with the company The Smart Tyre Company, is a technology used for the moon and martian rovers. The new is that now they are trying to adapt this technology even on Earth.

The Smart Tyre Company wants to use it on the bikes, but it’s not excluded that in the future it will be used even on other vehicles. Maybe, we will be, finally, be able to say goodbye to holes and tyre change.

The tyres are without air and they don’t suffer of holes or wear, which makes them almost unbreakable and eternal.

The tyres are in NiTinol+, an alloy of nickel and titanium. While the tread will be in Polyuerthanium, a material similar to the tire, but that allows a higher traction on all the kinds of grounds and with all the weather conditions.

Metl tyres, bikes, scooters and space

The name of the tyres is Metl, Martensite Elasticized, Tubular Loading.

The tyre Metl was originally developed for the martian and lunar rovers. Where, sure, isn’t possible to change the tyres and, for this reason, they had to be eternal.

By the way, what’s created for the space, very often is used even on Earth.

Smart Tyre Company wants to use its tyres Metl on the bikes. “The bikers are looking forward to use these tyres Metl that don’t pierce”, claimed the engineer Brian Yennie, thrilled.

But this might be only the beginning for the tyres. The Smart Tyre Company, infact, is working even with the company Spin, that cooperates with the Ford Motor Company, for the realization of electric scooters.

“We are excited of the potential of Metl, and we are sharing our knowledges about the performances and the specifics of the tyres for scooters with The Smart Tyre Company to help to bring forward our mission to create a cleaner, safer and better transport for everyone”, said James Berg, responsible research and development of Spin.

The technology SMA

The tyres Metl, therefore, are equipped with a special technology SMA, Shape Memory Alloy, even called SMART, Shape Memory Alloy Radial Technology.

This special technology developed and already largely used by the Nasa, give to the tyres memory of shape. The tyres, so, aren’t only hole proof, but they even “remember” their shape.

This thanks to its special alloy memory shape, that remembers its initial shape and takes it back in case of variation for external factors. This characteristic makes these tyres extremely elastic, but it even gives to them higher strength and stability.

“Thanks to their ability to undergo phasse transitions on a molecular level under stress, the SMAs are different than any other material, by having a perfect memory shape over the time”.

Not only Metl, the technologies of the Nasa within all reach

The tyres Metl and the homonymous bike are only the last technology of the Nasa which arrives within all reach.

The Nasa studies how to pass the limits, better than anyone else. To survive out there, in the space, they need the best of the best. And that top of the line can be used even here, on the Earth, to make the everyday life more pleasant and technological.

Right to bring the space technologies in the daily life of the Earth was born the program of the Nasa “Nasa Technology Transfer Program”. Afterward, to make the process even faster and more efficient was born the NASA Startup Studio, where the startups of the whole world can get in touch with the technologies of the Nasa and make them available for all.

This post is also available in: Italiano