Consider a lunar dirt bike. What would it look like?
Let’s start with fenders: Dirt bikes on Earth often have no fenders at all. So what if a little bit of sand gets kicked up and onto the rider? No big deal. On the Moon, however, fenders will be crucial. The Moon is covered with dark, abrasive dust. Apollo astronauts quickly learned they didn’t want to get this dust on their suits. Dust penetrated joints and seals, springing leaks. Dust scratched the visors of their helmets, making it difficult to see out. And worst of all (if you can imagine something worse than a leak), dust blackened their white suits, causing the suits to absorb sunlight and overheat on the Moon’s 100+ degree C surface. So, lunar bikes will have not just fenders, but WIDE fenders to try to keep this dust problem under control. Next, the wheels: Lunar terrain is both powdery and rough. To drive across this surface, Apollo moon buggies employed open-mesh, woven piano wire tires studded with titanium cleats. Moon bikes may use these, too. Ordinary air-filled tires are
