National Aeronautics and Space Administration

DUST IN SPACE Over the next decades, NASA will continue to send robotic probes to explore the solar system. These robotic explorers will attempt to find answers to scientific questions, demonstrate new technologies, identify resources, and send back critical data and images. THE MOON The moon and Mars offer difficult The lunar regolith, or soil, consists mainly challenges to this ambitious plan of of a powder that is abrasive and clings exploration. One of the most important stubbornly to surfaces such as solar problems is the dust, which causes panels, viewports and extravehicular hardware failures and obstruction to activity suits. During Apollo missions, camera lenses, thermal radiators and solar three days of exposure to the lunar panels, and also poses a hazard to human environment rendered some spacesuit health. Breakthrough technologies must be joints unusable. The primary mechanism developed to solve this problem, and the for dust adhesion on the moon is believed electrodynamic dust shield is one of them. to be due to electrostatic forces.

Dr. Carlos I. Calle Electrostatics and Surface Physics Lab [email protected] • (321) 867-3274 www.nasa.gov SP-2017-01-009-KSC MARS Frequent dust devils and occasional dust storms reaching global proportions loft dust from the surface of Mars into the low-pressure atmosphere. The fine particles can stay suspended for long periods of time. The collision of these windblown dust particles in the atmosphere with stationary surface particles may cause the surface of Mars to become electrostatically charged. Soil and dust particles also may acquire a accumulation have been developed. charge due to incident ultraviolet radiation Transparent dust shields with transparent flux reaching the surfaces. indium tin oxide electrodes on a transparent substrate can prevent dust ELECTRODYNAMIC DUST SHIELD buildup on camera lenses, spectrometers The electrodynamic dust shield and other optical systems, as well as technology being developed at viewports, visors, solar panels and Kennedy is based on the electric curtain thermal radiators. Opaque dust shields concept introduced by F.B. Tatom and can protect mechanical and electrical collaborators at NASA in 1967 and connectors, batteries and seals. Flexible further developed by researchers at the dust shields with carbon nanotube University of Tokyo in the 1970s. This electrodes on fabric can prevent dust technique has been shown to lift and accumulation on spacesuits. transport particles using dielectrophoretic forces. The technology has never been The Kennedy Space Center’s applied to space applications on the electrodynamic dust shield prototypes moon. The electric curtain consists of have been extensively tested in the a series of electrodes connected to a laboratory at high-vacuum conditions and multiphase alternating current source. The aboard NASA’s Reduced Gravity Flight source generates a travelling electric field aircraft at high-vacuum and simulated wave that carries dust particles along. lunar gravity conditions. Currently, a flight unit is under development for testing Several electrodynamic dust shield on the International Space Station prototypes that remove dust from where it can be exposed to the extreme surfaces and that prevent further environment of space.