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.