Lunar dust is a ubiquitous phenomenon which must be explicitly addressed during upcoming human lunar exploration missions. Near term plans to revisit the moon as a stepping stone for further exploration of Mars, and beyond, places a primary emphasis on characterization and mitigation of lunar dust. Comprised of regolith particles ranging in size from tens of nanometers to microns, lunar dust is a manifestation of the complex interaction of the lunar soil with multiple mechanical, electrical, and gravitational effects. The environmental and anthropogenic factors effecting the perturbation, transport, and deposition of lunar dust must be studied in order to mitigate it's potentially harmful effects on exploration systems. The same hold true for assessing the risk it may pose for toxicological health problems if inhaled. This paper presents the current perspective and implementation of dust knowledge management and integration, and mitigation technology development activities within NASA's Exploration Technology Development Program. This work is presented within the context of the Constellation Program's Integrated Lunar Dust Management Strategy. This work further outlines the scientific basis for lunar dust behavior, it's characteristics and potential effects, and surveys several potential strategies for its control and mitigation both for lunar surface operations and within the working volumes of a lunar outpost. The paper also presents a perspective on lessons learned from Apollo and forensics engineering studies of Apollo hardware.


    Access

    Access via TIB

    Check availability in my library


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Lunar Dust: Characterization and Mitigation


    Contributors:

    Conference:

    9th International Conference on the Exploration and Utilization of the Moon/International Lunar Exploration Working Group ; 2007 ; Sorrento, Italy


    Publication date :

    2007-10-24


    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English






    Lunar Dust and Dust Mitigation Testing

    S. K. R. Miller | NTIS | 2023


    Lunar Dust Mitigation Technology Development

    M. J. Hyatt / P. B. Deluane | NTIS | 2008


    Project MoonDust: Characterization and Mitigation of Lunar Dust

    Kruzelecky, Roman / Aïssa, Brahim / Wong, Brian et al. | AIAA | 2011