Landing gear apparatuses and applications thereof

A landing gear assembly for a landing vehicle being an aircraft or a spacecraft, the landing gear assembly comprising:

• a wheel of the landing vehicle, comprising a wheel rim connected to a wheel hub, said wheel rim encompasses a wheel rim inner boundary and has a wheel rim center and a wheel rim inner radius spanning between said wheel rim center and said wheel rim inner boundary, said wheel hub is configured for being movable through and circularly around said wheel rim center and positionable in space surrounded by said wheel rim inner boundary, to a nominal position located within said space;
• a wheel hub positioning mechanism, including an actuator, and connected to said wheel hub, and configured to selectively confine and position said wheel hub within said space to a pre-determined position different from said nominal position;
• and
• a wheel hub suspension assembly, connected to said wheel hub, and operable in response to said wheel hub moving relative to said pre-determined position, said wheel hub suspension assembly comprises a damper configured to absorb a shock or/and dissipate kinetic energy during said wheel hub motion;
• wherein when said landing vehicle wheel is subjected to a shock associated with a landing impact of at least 2 meters-per-second vertical velocity, said wheel hub moves from or across said pre-determined position towards said wheel rim inner boundary, along a wheel hub maximal shifting path whose length is greater than said wheel rim inner radius.