NASA's Ingenious Solution: The Tiny Tank That Safely Pops Shuttle Tires

NASA built a remote-controlled tank, known as the CR-990 Tire Assault Vehicle (TAV), using a 1/16 scale Tamiya RC Tiger II tank, to "defuse" damaged Space Shuttle tires by drilling holes into them and releasing the pressure. The TAV featured a camera and video transmitter for a first-person view and cost around $3,000 to build in the 1990s. The Space Shuttle's complex landing gear required tires capable of withstanding extreme forces, with each tire estimated to have the explosive potential of two and a half sticks of dynamite.