NASA had to get creative to ensure the safety of the Shuttle and its occupants at landing time. In a weird twist, the eventual solution to keeping the Administration’s tire testing as safe as possible tagged in one of the most popular model car companies in the world, vindicating millions of hobbyists and proving that to think big, sometimes you first have to get small.
How do you deal with exploding tires that have the potential to cause permanent injury at a range of 100 feet after hot-testing the Space Shuttle’s landing gear? If you’re a clever NASA contractor you…head to the closest hobby store? My feature on the Tire Assault Vehicle that kept the space program’s workers safe in the 1990s, for Hagerty.
