Aerospace America - Scrubbing away lunar dust

Apr 8

Scientists anticipate lunar dust will be a persistent issue for future astronauts on the moon.

The staticky, sticky, abrasive substance could be a critical challenge for future surface missions as part of the Artemis program and a proposed surface base in 2030. A range of activities, from landers touching down to rovers traversing the lunar terrain, could kick up the fine particles, which linger in the vacuum surrounding the moon for long periods due to the weak gravity — one-sixth as strong as Earth’s.

The engineers and scientists behind the Lunar SCRUB (Surface Cleaning Robotic Unit with electron-Beam) project propose to solve the dust problem with an electrostatic cleaning device.

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