The hazards facing lunar astronauts are many. There’s the radiation, the temperature extremes, the psychological challenges associated with isolation, and the risk of bad accidents so far from Earthly assistance. But there’s also the dust, which constitutes an ever-present background hazard.
NASA has known about the hazards lunar dust poses since the Apollo days. When Apollo 11 landed on the Moon, NASA was concerned that the lander would sink into the dust and took various precautions to prevent that.
As the spacecraft descended to the surface, it kicked up dust that impaired Armstrong’s vision as he piloted the lander. Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison “Jack” Schmitt said, “Dust is going to be the environmental problem for future missions, both inside and outside habitats.”
NASA has developed a method of dealing with dust that builds up on surfaces called the Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS). They tested it on the recent Blue Ghost Mission 1, which was a robotic lander from Firefly Aerospace that became the first private spacecraft to execute a fully successful soft landing on the Moon.
Blue Ghost casts its shadow on the lunar surface. Image Credit: Firefly Aerospace
Martian dust has some particular qualities that make it more dangerous than we might think. It’s extremely fine and sharp. It has an abrasive nature and can wear down mechanical components and spacesuits. It can infiltrate seals and, if inhaled, can cause lung damage. There’s a serious risk of lung and eye damage if astronauts are exposed to it over longer terms.
It has another quality that makes it difficult to contend with: it’s electrostatically charged.
UV radiation and the solar wind constantly bombard the Moon’s surface, knocking electrons off particles and creating a positive charge. Since the Moon lacks an atmosphere, it can’t dissipate electrical charges like Earth can. The dust sticks to everything that carries a charge. And since there’s no erosion on the Moon, the particles are never smoothed like Earth dust is. They stay sharp.
The EDS is designed to prevent the dust from sticking. It uses electrodynamic forces to achieve that.
The before-and-after images clearly show the system’s effectiveness. Though it didn’t completely remove the dust, it removed a good portion of it.
NASA tested its EDS system on two surfaces during Blue Ghost Mission 1. The system shows promise, and NASA deemed it a successful test. Image Credit: NASA/Firefly Aerospace.
Dust may not generate many headlines, but successfully dealing with it is a milestone for lunar exploration.
“This milestone marks a significant step toward sustaining long-term lunar and interplanetary operations by reducing dust-related hazards to a variety of surfaces for space applications ranging from thermal radiators, solar panels, and camera lenses to spacesuits, boots, and helmet visors,” NASA said in a press release.