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DUST HAZARD FOR MOON MISSIONS!!

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withoutlimits09

withoutlimits09

Paranormal Adept
Apparently, and almost as if we never went to the moon in the first place, scientists are now concerned that dust may prohibit future trips to the moon. According to the article,

"the dust lingers high above the surface, presenting a thin grey cloud of fine, sticky, abrasive particles that hamper visibility, coat solar panels and threaten moving parts,"
So to counter this, the scientists have suggested that future vehicles on the moon's service should include:

Building a "dome-shaped" rover from which the dust slides, as opposed to a rover that is box-shaped or has lots of crevices or surfaces on which the dust could fall, would be a good option, she said.

Otherwise, I guess it isn't going to travel very far.

Dust hazard for Moon missions: scientists

With that thought in mind, I thought I would leave you all with a very interesting picture :)

http://i.space.com/images/i/000/002/452/original/070510_moon_rover_02.jpg?1292265642


Apparently, this moon dust was not a large problem during Apollo (notice the dome shape over the rover).

Moving parts seemed to work just fine while on the surface of the....sound stage I mean moon.....
 
Maybe they are concerned with problems developing during extended stays on the lunar surface? Still--don't recall mention of dust being a problem for Apollo whatsoever.
 
Dust was very much a problem- the fenders were returned to Earth for examination, to see how they stood up to the lunar dust- which is more like fine glass shards than fine gravel. One fender came off entirely after being bumped- it was just fiberglass- and so an improvised fender was made from a spare map, held in place by a couple of clamps. The fine, solar-charged "traveling" dust they are talking about will be a problem in long-term missions. The Rovers were designed to work for no more than 56 hours, total- and even then, accumulated dust nearly cooked the battery and electronics, as it could not be well brushed off. Fortunately, the wax-cooled thermal sinks kept things from actually failing in use. Worst of all- the dust *actually kept duck tape from working*, so is a major threat to human civilization!
 
Pygar2 said:
Dust was very much a problem- the fenders were returned to Earth for examination, to see how they stood up to the lunar dust- which is more like fine glass shards than fine gravel. One fender came off entirely after being bumped- it was just fiberglass- and so an improvised fender was made from a spare map, held in place by a couple of clamps. The fine, solar-charged "traveling" dust they are talking about will be a problem in long-term missions. The Rovers were designed to work for no more than 56 hours, total- and even then, accumulated dust nearly cooked the battery and electronics, as it could not be well brushed off. Fortunately, the wax-cooled thermal sinks kept things from actually failing in use. Worst of all- the dust *actually kept duck tape from working*, so is a major threat to human civilization!
Click to expand...
yet when the jet blast from the lander hit the powdery surface there was no dust on the landers shiny parts or landing gear.
 
Photos show some dust did wind up on the foot-pads- but since the first things to touch the surface were the 66" long "feelers" underneath the pads, and the engine was to be shut off when they did, it is easy to understand how not a lot of dust could possibly still be between the affected area and the pads themselves, when they came down. Remember, no air means no clouds of dust hanging around to settle- if it is moved, it keeps moving until it is stopped. It is hard to remember that dust on the moon throws like rocks, sometimes. And that if dust was not itself hit by exhaust, or by other dust, nothing existed to make it move at all- no air to carry *or* hold dust. In any case, blowing a bit of dust up off the lunar hardpan is not going to cause a great quantity of dust to be moved anyway- the engine exhaust was spread out so much that any given square inch of soil would have gotten about 1.5 pounds of thrust applied, which isn't much vs. the very cohesive, glass-shard like regolith.
 
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