When it comes toreturning to the Moon or journey to Mars , astronaut have everything from the inhospitable conditions to potentialbrain damageto contend with . But there ’s another , perhaps unexpected , peril lurking out there . Dust .
Dust might seem like a fiddling threat , but arecent studyfound that lunar detritus can down human cell , interpolate our desoxyribonucleic acid , and increase our chance of developing Crab . Moondust is also incredibly unenviable and finds its way into even the smallest of crevices , clogging up lively equipment .
Martian rubble may act similarly , so engineer from the Boeing Company are work on a solution – self - strip spacesuit . These suits would drive rubble , preventing it from sticking to the astronaut , block their line of imagination , and thumb into ballistic capsule .
“ Lunar dust proved to be troublesome during the Apollo foreign mission , ” the engineer wrote in a paper published in the journalActa Astronautica . “ The powdery dust got into everything , abrading spacesuit textile , clogging seals and other critical equipment . Even inside the lunar module , Apollo cosmonaut were exposed to this dust after they removed their debris - coat spacesuit .
“ Consequently , NASA has identified junk as a vital environmental challenge to subdue for future planetary airfoil missions characterize by dusty environments . ”
On our planet , dust atom are smoothed out thanks to erosion by piss and tip . But the Moon has an incredibly slight ambiance , so the rubble there stay on harsh . And as it ’s charge with stable electrical energy from solar wind and UV irradiation , it ’ll stick to pretty much anything . As the Red Planet has atmospheric condition , the dust on Mars is n’t as coarse as it is on the Moon , but it is still passably harsh . An astronaut certainly would n’t want to get get up in one of the planet ’s hugedust storms .
The squad note that various technologies for forbid dust pollution have already been put ahead , but they ’re designed for unconditional , stiff surfaces , like solar panels . The challenge here was applying the ability to repel dust to a flexible , wearable material that could be used in a spacesuit .
The new system has been dubbed SPacesuit Integrated Carbon carbon nanotube Dust Ejection / Removal , or SPIcDER for scant – a nod to Spiderman . It ’s made up of flexible carbon nanotube roughage , energized by an electric field . This electric field allows the fibre to repel dust via a mental process know aselectrophoresis .
The team successfully tested out their creation – so far a supercharge knee joint section of a spacesuit – using feigning of the junk conditions on both the Moon and Mars . Next , they plan to try out their dust - detesting suits in space .
[ H / T : New Scientist ]
