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I work on the field. Moon dust presents quite unique challenges that have been and continue to be studied at NASA and private industry. Regolith gets charge/dis
by uguuo_o 3y ago
I work on the field. Moon dust presents quite unique challenges that have been and continue to be studied at NASA and private industry. Regolith gets charge/discharge cycle that naturally pushes the smallest particles upwards. This plus whatever material is forced during landing, regolith will be around any potential structures and equipment that we bring to the moon. The problem is that it gets through seals, it attaches to equipment like sensors and communication, all causing failures. There are many potential solutions, all that are actively being explored at NASA and industry that include active and passive methods. Active include using electromagnetic fields to remove particles. Passive are using materials and/or manual mechanism. It is a very interesting problem that likely requires very radical active solutions.
- hcrisp 3y agoThey are looking at new seal designs, like an inner labyrinthine seal covered by a series of other seals.
- uguuo_o 3y agoYes, new seal designs have been proposed and prototyped over the years. As far as I know, so take it with a huge grain of salt, no particular design is as of yet hailed as the solution to this problem. There have been multiple NASA technical briefings on the subject since Apollo, with the last one I have seen just a few years ago. These take into account all known solutions proposed by industry and NASA, and the problem just seems to get worse the more we learn about lunar regolith and the lunar environment.
- hackernewds 3y agoRegolith seems to be an issue that is pervasive to unsealed containers. Doesn't it pose an equal harm then through human orifices by respiration etc?
- jmclnx 3y agoI thought I read many years ago there is a concern with breathing regolith in. Because regolith is not kind of "smooth" like particles here on Earth, they can get stuck in the lungs causing various health issues.
- syngrog66 3y agoie. like asbestos causing lung cancer
- uguuo_o 3y agoYes. The NASA reports that study the potential effects on health do conclude that due to its particle shape, size, and composition, the fine regolith particles pose a significant danger to human health in prolonged exposure.
- gibolt 3y agoSolutions will be quickly iterated once we have feet on the Moon. Hopefully within a few years of that, there will be cheap and reliable solutions. Being able to test with real humans will go so much faster than sandbox tests on Earth.
- MengerSponge 3y agoAwfully optimistic to think that inhabited settlements can withstand a few years of unmitigated regolith exposure
- gibolt 3y agoCould be visit and return trips. Just need repeat opportunities to trial various solutions with a person there to inspect/return the results.
- lostlogin 3y agoSpeaking of sandbox testing, here in New Zealand we have a lot of beaches with black iron sand. It’s very fine and gets absolutely everywhere. A layer is often in beachside houses. You see it in the toilets, it’s in cars, in electronics near beaches, it’s in your hair days later. It’s stuck inside MRI scanners around town (I work with them). A finer dust would be a nightmare, as iron sand is bad enough.