Lunar Dust is Difficult…

What is NASA doing to address the issue of lunar dust? The Lunar Development and Test Facility at NASA’s Johnson Space Center will test spacesuits, spacecraft components, and hardware with conditions similar to those found on the Moon. Teams will also be able to experiment with regolith simulant and vacuum chambers to help NASA develop dust mitigation technologies and countermeasures. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/home/index.html Join NASA as we go forward to the Moon and on to Mars -- discover the latest on Earth, the Solar System and beyond with a weekly update in your inbox. Subscribe at: www.nasa.gov/subscribe

What is said in the film

You’re s getting awfully dusty, everything is just full of dust Artemis 3, NASA’S mission to return humans to the moon for the first time since 1972 In a few years two astronauts will land on the barren landscape at the South Pole And the first thing they will encounter other than 1/6 gravity are tiny particles Kicked up by the descent engine on the Artemis 3 lander.. and there will be lots of it. And there is no avoiding a simple fact NASA and even commercial space missions will face an invisible threat to any spacecraft rover or lunar outpost This invisible threat is represented by tiny particles of dust that hovers above the surface But this is not any ordinary dust but ground up lunar rock It will clog drills, scratch spacesuits, and tear holes in gloves. And because lunar regolith absorbs sunlight Electrostatic particles can cling to well…everything So what is NASA doing to mitigate the harmful effects of lunar dust and lunar regolith? The power and propulsion division has created the Lunar Development and Test Facility Offering lunar environment testing capabilities for subsystem, and system hardware and assemblies The facility will test three main areas spacesuits, spacecraft components, and mechanisms with moving parts,and joints.

This unique facility enables a range of lunar environmental testing and research needs. The facility encompasses a 15 foot dirty thermal vacuum chamber 3-foot dirty thermal vacuum chamber A dust containment and preparation lab Component test lab with dust box and bell jars The facility will also have the capabilities to process and manufacture lunar regolith simulant. Used for realistic and reliable testing of dust mitigation The facility will help NASA develop dust mitigation technologies, countermeasures, and procedures that will be tested both here and on the moon with commercial autonomous rovers Dust is difficult. Okay? Yep.

Remind me to dust my camera too will you. Don’t forget to dust your camera.

Where this page came from

This page was imported from NASA. NASA material is generally not copyrighted and is in the public domain.

Nobody has written it yet — it is the source material at a new address, which is why search engines are asked to skip it and why no one earns from it. It is up for grabs: take it on, and it is yours to rewrite and to earn from.