Sunday, July 7, 2013

Moon dust a threat to space exploration

Bob sent me a link to a warning about the problems that could be had with Moon dust for returning lunar missions that land.  


What caught my attention was that there is still an interest in landing on Moon and understanding what can make the dust levitate.

The topic of levitating lunar dust has been mentioned before.  A Google search found several blogs at Lunar Networks on the topic as well as one I also posted back in 2009.about volcanic dust and its similarity to lunar dust. Lunar Dust & Mt. Redoubt

Even more exciting is that Adrienne Rathert Dove submitted Experimental investigations of the lunar photoelectron
environment and related dust dynamics for his degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences 2012. Interesting 140 pages.  So much I don't know.

All of this continues to add more questions as some are answered. It would be nice to see some of the Lunar X Prize entrants to launch to the Moon. How many more degrees would come as a result of the interest generated by the Lunar X Prize and Education?  
- LRK -

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Moon dust a threat to space exploration, Britain's Royal Astronomical Society hears
  • AFP
  • July 06, 2013 3:00AM
A RETURN to the Moon could be hampered by dust, a poorly-understood threat to machines and people alike, a space conference has heard.


Simulations by scientists in Britain and France show that in key zones of Earth's satellite, dust kicked up by a landing or exploration gains an electrostatic force that briefly overcomes lunar gravity, it heard.


As a result, 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, they said.

Some kinds of lunar dust are laden with iron, presenting a toxicity risk for humans if breathed in, they said.

Farideh Honary, a professor at the University of Lancaster, northwestern England, said lunar dust was already identified as a potential hazard by returning Apollo astronauts.

But only now, with mounting interest in a return to the Moon, were scientists taking a closer look, she said.


Read more: http://www.news.com.au/technology/sci-tech/moon-dust-a-threat-to-space-exploration-britains-royal-astronomical-society-hears/story-fn5fsgyc-1226675145775#ixzz2YNzDkbjC
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Some of those Lunar Networks blogs.
- LRK -

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Western Australia physicist's Moon dust tapes may hold keys to future lunar landings
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Again, Adrienne Rathert Dove's thesis paper.
- LRK -

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for a degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences 2012. 

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A more visual 20 page PDF presentation on dust and plasma at the Moon. :-)
This was back in 2007.  Informative but not every Power Point Presentation becomes a mission.
- LRK -

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Interaction of Dust and Plasma on the Lunar Surface and in the Exosphere

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I hope some industrial lunar mining company is watching these presentations when they happen.
Characterizing the Near-Lunar Plasma Environment

Many more publications with Jasper S. Halekas.
- LRK -
Halekas

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LUNAR SURFACE CHARGING:
A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE USING LUNAR PROSPECTOR DATA 
Timothy J. Stubbs1
, Jasper S. Halekas2
, William M. Farrell1
, and Richard R. Vondrak1
1
Solar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, U.S.A. 
2
Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, U.S.A. 

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Then back here on Earth.
- LRK -

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The 'fine day' net positive charge sets up an electric field between the negative Earth and the net positive charge in the air, and this electric field stores electrical energy. The positive charge acts by induction on the earth and electromagnetic devices.[2]
Experiments have shown that the intensity of this electric field is greater in the middle of the day than at morning or night and is also greater in winter than in summer. In 'fine weather', the potential, aka 'voltage', increases with altitude at about 30 volts per foot (100 V/m), when climbing against the gradient of the electric field.[3] This electric field gradient continues up into the atmosphere to a point where the voltage reaches its maximum, in the neighborhood of 300,000 volts. This occurs at approximately 30–50 km above the Earth's surface.[4] From that point in the atmosphere up to its outer limit, nearly 1,000 km, the electric field gradient produced in the lower atmosphere either ceases or has reversed.
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So, while stationed in Guam, my watch with an LCD display was fading, as battery was most tired. I mentioned that Earth had voltage gradient and showed that I could make the display come to life for a moment by moving it vertically through the field. Maybe not a spark from a kite flying in a storm but nice to see some of the words you read in books (now maybe Internet) can come to life.
- LRK -

Thanks for looking up with me.  
- LRK -
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -

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