Successful exploration of most planetary surfaces, with their impact‐generated dusty regoliths, will depend on the capabilities to keep surfaces free of the dust which could compromise performance and to collect dust for characterization. Solving the dust problem is essential before we return to the Moon. During the Apollo missions, the discovery was made that regolith fines, or dust, behaved like abrasive velcro, coating surfaces, clogging mechanisms, and making movement progressively more difficult as it was mechanically stirred up during surface operations, and abrading surfaces, including spacesuits, when attempts were made to remove it manually. In addition, some of the astronauts experienced breathing difficulties when exposed to dust that got into the crew compartment. The successful strategy will deal with dust dynamics resulting from interaction between mechanical and electrostatic forces. Here we will describe the surface properties of dust particles, the basis for their behavior, and an electrostatically‐based approach and methodology for addressing this issue confirmed by our preliminary results. Our device concept utilizes a focused electron beam to control the electrostatic potential of the surface. A plate of the opposite potential is then used to induce dust migration in the presence of an electrical field. Our goal is a compact device of <5  kg mass and using <5  watts of power to be operational in <5  years with heritage from ionic sweepers for active spacecraft potential control (e.g., on POLAR). Rovers could be fitted with devices that could harness the removal of dust for sampling as part of the extended exploration process on Mercury, Mars, asteroids or outer solar system satellites, as well as the Moon.


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    Titel :

    SPARCLE: Electrostatic Tool for Lunar Dust Control


    Beteiligte:
    Clark, P. E. (Autor:in) / Curtis, S. A. (Autor:in) / Minetto, F. (Autor:in) / Cheung, C. Y. (Autor:in) / Keller, J. F. (Autor:in) / Moore, M. (Autor:in) / Calle, C. I. (Autor:in) / Robertson, Glen A. (Herausgeber:in)

    Kongress:

    SPACE, PROPULSION & ENERGY SCIENCES INTERNATIONAL FORUM: SPESIF‐2009 ; 2009 ; Huntsville (Alabama)


    Erschienen in:

    AIP Conference Proceedings ; 1103 , 1 ; 608-614


    Erscheinungsdatum :

    16.03.2009


    Format / Umfang :

    7 pages





    Medientyp :

    Aufsatz (Konferenz)


    Format :

    Elektronische Ressource


    Sprache :

    Englisch



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    Clark, P.E. / Curtis, S.A. / Minetto, F. et al. | British Library Conference Proceedings | 2009


    SPARCLE: Electrostatic Dust Control Tool Proof of Concept

    Clark, P. E. / Curtis, S. A. / Minetto, F. et al. | American Institute of Physics | 2010


    SPARCLE: A Mission Overview

    Emmitt, G. D. / Kavaya, M. / Miller, T. | NTRS | 1999


    Design and development of the SPARCLE coherent lidar transceiver

    Phillips, Mark W. / Schnal, Dane L. / Hale, Charley P. et al. | SPIE | 1999