Remember Michelin's amazing airless tyre/wheel combination that was set to revolutionise the automotive world as we know it - the Tweel?
The tyremaker will nowl supply the tyres for Nasa's next generation moon buggy as it "no popping" design will suit the harsh lunar terrain.
It appeared at the Paris auto show in 2004 with rubber spokes between the wheel hub and tread to provide puncture-proof automotive footwear and earned a "One of the Most Amazing Inventions of 2005" award and the Intermat Innovation Commision's Gold medal for Innovation in 2006.
Then it disappeared.
Conspiracy theorists could argue that wheel and inner-tube manufacturers plotted to keep the Tweel off the market to keep themselves in business but the innovative alternative to run-flat tyres has made a comeback - in the inter-planetary sector.
The Michelin Lunar Wheel, as it's officially called, meets Nasa's needs for moon missions planned for the next decade because it will maintain flexibility and constant ground pressure and is unaffected by very low temperatures.
SHOWN OFF WITH OBAMA
Nasa and Michelin tested the wheel on one of Hawaii's islands last year; the volcanic terrain, rock distribution and soil composition is similar to that of the moon's lunar polar region.
The Michelin Lunar Wheel was rolled out in public at US president Barak Obama's inauguration when astronauts drove Nasa's Small Pressurised Lunar Rover prototype down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington.
Michelin has supplied tyres for space shuttle programmes for 20 years. - Star Motoring