PHOTOS (32)

Engineers at The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company test tire designs for noise levels in a specially built room, the anechoic laboratory. A revolving drum spins the tire and wheel, without a need for the vehicle to be running, thus eliminating any outside interference from engine noise.

With the shell of the Goodyear Airdock rising in the background, the Goodyear blimp Mayflower is christened in 1929. The ship was named after the America Cup defenders in international yachting, as were the Puritan, Volunteer, Vigilant and Defender. Mayflower became the first Florida-based Goodyear airship.

WORLD CHANGING MISTAKE -- Legend has it that Charles Goodyear accidentally discovered the vulcanization process in his Woburn, Mass., kitchen, turning rubber into a product that could actually be used to make useful products. The founder of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company chose Goodyear's name for the company in tribute to the discovery. Charles Goodyear never had anything to do with the company that bears his name.

Rick Laske, project leader for The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company's development of a replicate tire from NASA's Apollo space missions in the 1970s, checks tread plate widths of the wire-mesh structure. Goodyear-NASA's replicate tire includes four major components in the tire and wheel design: mesh, tread, inner-frame and hub. The mesh is woven from piano wire while the tread is a series of hinged metal strips which protect the mesh from impact, allowing for movement of the tire while maintaining flexibility, and providing increased contact area for floatation in the lunar soil. A team of Goodyear and NASA engineers created 12 replicate tires as part of a jointly funded project.

Richard Kramer (center), chairman and CEO of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, cuts the ceremonial ribbon to formally open the tiremaker’s new global headquarters in Akron, Ohio. With Kramer are (from left) Laura Thompson, vice president, Finance, Goodyear North America; Stu Lichter, of Industrial Realty Group; Russ Pry, Summit County executive; Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic; Mary Taylor, Lt. Governor of Ohio; Chris Burnham, president, Development Finance Authority; Lisa Winkelmann Speltz, director of Net Lease Asset Management; and Paul Sandstrom, Goodyear polymer chemist.

Just two years after his harrowing solo transatlantic flight in the Spirit of St. Louis, Charles Lindbergh enjoyed a more leisurely ride in the Volunteer, Goodyear's blimp based in Los Angeles. Like other early airships, the Volunteer carried four passengers and a pilot. The Defender was a frequent visitor to the Rose Bowl and, in 1932, the Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

Goodyear’s prototype non-pneumatic tire, under development for use first on the moon and eventually on Mars, builds on technology pioneered by Goodyear in the 1960s for the Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle’s (LRV) wire mesh moon tire (shown here). During the past year, Goodyear has been using computer modeling tools to analyze the Apollo lunar rover tire, along with prototype pneumatic tires and non-pneumatic concepts, in order to build a baseline understanding of the wheel’s mechanics and the challenges of the lunar environment.

Inside Goodyear's Wingfoot Lake hangar, near Sufield, Ohio, the airship Spirit of America stands watch over the envelope of what would become Goodyear's newest blimp.

Frank Seiberling, founder of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, in his office.

Apollo lunar rover vehicle tire, the baseline for The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company's prototype non-pneumatic lunar tire being developed for future missions first on the moon and eventually on Mars.

Ohio Governor John Kasich, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Rich Kramer, and Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic (left to right), at the groundbreaking for the company’s new headquarters on April 18, 2011.

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company’s prototype non-pneumatic lunar tire, under development for use first on the moon and eventually on Mars.

Dr. Karl Arnstein, designer of the airships U.S.S. Akron and U.S.S. Macon and the Goodyear Airdock in Akron, Ohio, stands a safe distance behind his wife as she christens the Goodyear blimp Mayflower on May 22, 1929.

The Airship Akron, circa 1911, with the lifeboat attached.

Four Goodyear blimps fly in formation over the company's Wingfoot Lake airship hangar near Suffield, Ohio following the christening of the Spirit of America in 2002.

In 1940, equipped with a record player, microphone and attached loudspeaker, the Goodyear blimps Reliance and Ranger would blimpcast recordings and live greetings to the public below.

Goodyear's original Akron-based blimp fleet launched from Wingfoot Lake on Nov. 4, 1930, and flew in formation over Akron and the Goodyear Airdock. The aerial blimp parade included the Pilgrim, Neponset, Vigilant, Mayflower, Defender and Puritan.

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company's blimp Defender became the first airship in the world to carry a lighted sign. Named Neon-O-Gram, 10 removable aluminum framed panels were attached to the side of the Defender allowing a static text to be displayed using neon light tubes. Each frame weighed 35 pounds and stood six feet tall and four feet wide.

Goodyear's Pilgrim, built in 1925, was the first commercial non-rigid airship flown using helium. With a landing wheel replacing bumper bags and the first passenger car held flush against its bag by internal cables, Pilgrim's contributions to aeronautics were recognized by the Smithsonian Institution, which exhibited the airship as a milestone in aviation progress. The mast, called a belly mooring, was an experimental portable design developed in 1930 to enable cross-country operations independent of permanent hangars.

Beginning in 1940, it wasn't unusual for a blimp to tow a banner or talk! Banner-towing Goodyear blimps would occasionally advertise commercial offerings such as soft drinks.

Looking down on championship city Cleveland, Wingfoot Two provided live aerial views on June 22, 2016 of 1.3 million cheering fans as the 2016 NBA Champion Cleveland Cavaliers earned a place in NBA history by defeating the Golden State Warriors in 7 games.

Looking down on championship city Cleveland, Wingfoot Two provided live aerial views on June 22, 2016 of 1.3 million cheering fans as the 2016 NBA Champion Cleveland Cavaliers earned a place in NBA history by defeating the Golden State Warriors in 7 games.

Lesa France Kennedy (left), president of International Speedway Corp. and a member of NASCAR's Board of Directors, christens The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company's Spirit of Innovation blimp along with Lynn Keegan, wife of then Chairman Bob Keegan.

Savannah James (LeBron James Family Foundation)

Sitting in the rumble seat of Wingfoot Two, the 2016 NBA Championship Larry O'Brien trophy, won by the Cleveland Cavaliers in a rugged post season battle with the Golden State Warriors, gets the best view out the back window.

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company's airship, Spirit of America, flies over Graceland - home of late music legend Elvis Presley - in Memphis.

Famed aviatrix Amelia Earhart (holding beaker) christened the Goodyear blimp Defender in 1929 at the National Air Races in Cleveland.

Robin Roberts, co-anchor of ABC TV's "Good Morning America" prior to christening The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company's newest blimp, Wingfoot One, on August 23, 2014.

Santa Claus, standing in front of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company's first public relations blimp "Pilgrim" in 1927 as part of the company's Santa Claus Express.

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company's first public relations blimp, "The Pilgrim," made up as the Santa Claus Express circa 1927.

There is almost unimaginable contrast between tire manufacturing in the early days at The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and the computer-operated, highly technical plants that produce today's Goodyear tires. Automobile tire production began in 1899 and by 1916 Goodyear was the world's largest tire and rubber company.

When the second manned flight to the earth's moon took place in 1971, the U.S. astronauts on board Apollo 14 took with them a Modular Equipment Transporter equipped with Goodyear tires specially designed for the trip. Designed by NASA engineers, the MET came equipped with 16-inch tires designed, tested and manufactured by Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company engineers. Two firsts were achieved by the tires. They became first tires to leave tracks on the ancient lunar surface, and they became the first set of tires to take up permanent residence on the moon as the astronauts left the MET behind when they returned to earth.