No doubt, NASA will return people to the moon and the mission is not just to return to the surface. It is to learn a huge amount about the moon also what the moon tells us about the early history of the solar system and not to forget He-3 that is abundant on the lunar surface and can be used for nuclear fusion reaction that can power the technology and machinery to be used by the future post of our nearest neighbor. However, before we can think of setting a lunar post on the surface NASA is concerned about the lunar dust that can prove fatal to the technology.
How to tackle the lunar dust?
The answer is not all that simple. If NASA’s plan to set up a base on the moon is to become a reality, scientists will first have to devise a way to deal with a tiny but ubiquitous enemy: lunar dust.
NASA have learned during the Apollo missions of the 1960s and ’70s that within hours, the dust covered the astronauts’ spacesuits and equipment, scratching lenses and corroding seals. Fortunately, at that time, the astronauts had their contact with lunar dust for short period and it didn’t cause any major problems. However, now the task has become bigger and so does the problem. Explorers will now live on a moon base for weeks or even months at a time and they are not likely to get away so clean for sure.
Under prolonged exposure, the explorers would be at risk for everything from mechanical failures in spacesuits and airlocks to lung diseases and God knows what not. Without further research into the biological effects of lunar dust, it will be next to impossible to set a permanent lunar post. And NASA scientists have rightly planned to manufacture huge amounts of fake moon dirt on the earth’s surface. The samples acquired during the Apollo missions aren’t nearly enough to test how machinery will act on the lunar surface. As a result, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center has contracted with aerospace R&D firm ORBITEC to manufacture 16 tones of three varieties of simulated moon dirt.
Source materials used to produce the three simulants will potentially come from locations as diverse as Montana, Arizona, Virginia, Florida, Hawaii, and even some international sites.
Via: Boingboing
