CLEMSON — The research Clemson University (CU) completes on a daily basis is nationally renowned and could soon be celebrated worldwide with the help of NASA and Michelin.

The ATHLETE (All-Terrain Hex-Legged Extra-Terrestrial Explorer) developed by NASA, may be heading to the moon on wheels designed by Clemson students.

The process began in 2006 when the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a leading U.S. center for robotic exploration of the solar system, got word of the “tweel,” Time magazine’s 2005 invention of the year. The “tweel” tire, developed by Michelin, uses no air and can never become flat or burst from too much pressure. The word “tweel” is an amalgamation of “tire,” and “wheel.”

JPL then contacted Michelin and requested some of their “tweels.” But because rubber won’t work on the moon, Michelin came to the university and began brainstorming.

“It was a high risk with a low reward for Michelin,” said Joshua Summers, associate professor in mechanical engineering. “So they asked us to head to JPL, find out their needs and try to do some material work and see if developing a non-rubber tweel would be feasible.”

So, after the visit in 2006, Summers told JPL associates that he ran a program called the Senior Design Capstone Program at Clemson. Here, mechanical engineering students take problems from various industries, work on them with advisors and see what can be done. Timken, Square D and BMW are among the many that CU has helped in the past.

“I told them that we might be able to design some prototypes of metallic wheels that could travel on the moon,” he said.

From there, JPL jumped on board, and Michelin opted to foot the bill for research funding.

“Three or four patents came out of the undergraduate projects on the way to this goal,” he said. “With the positive strides, we applied for more research funding and received some small amounts from the South Carolina Space Grant Consortium.”

With these “seed grants,” Summers hopes to continue making progress and bring the final product to NASA with the promise of producing lunar wheels to travel on the moon.

“We’re very excited about what’s to come,” he said.