Dealing With Lunar Dust

Apollo astronauts set up instrument packages on the lunar surface that would continue to send back data after the men had left. The thinking at the time was that, since there is no appreciable lunar atmosphere, the instruments would remain in pristine condition indefinitely. A new study questions that assumption and puts new demands on future equipment destined for the Moon.

Lunar dust moves. It got all over the astronauts, but it also moves when humans aren't around. Excited by the energy flowing in from the Sun, dust particles can raise kilometers above the surface before drifting back down-- settling sometimes on machines put there by humans, degrading the machines' performance. Designing machines that will be able to counteract the dust will be one key in the future exploration and settlement of the Moon.