{"id":57382,"date":"2020-08-31T20:04:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-31T17:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/researchers-develop-dustbuster-for-the-moon\/"},"modified":"2020-08-31T20:04:00","modified_gmt":"2020-08-31T17:04:00","slug":"researchers-develop-dustbuster-for-the-moon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/researchers-develop-dustbuster-for-the-moon\/","title":{"rendered":"#Researchers develop dustbuster for the moon"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;<strong>#Researchers develop dustbuster for the moon<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div data-src=\"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/hires\/2020\/207-researchersd.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Dust sticks to the boots of Apollo 17 astronaut and geologist Harrison \"Jack\" Schmitt in 1972. Credit: NASA\" data-thumb=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/tmb\/2020\/207-researchersd.jpg\">\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Researchers develop dustbuster for the moon\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/800\/2020\/207-researchersd.jpg\" title=\"Dust sticks to the boots of Apollo 17 astronaut and geologist Harrison \"Jack\" Schmitt in 1972. Credit: NASA\" width=\"800\"><\/img><figcaption>\n                Dust sticks to the boots of Apollo 17 astronaut and geologist Harrison &#8220;Jack&#8221; Schmitt in 1972. Credit: NASA<br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>A team led by the University of Colorado Boulder is pioneering a new solution to the problem of spring cleaning on the moon: Why not zap away the grime using a beam of electrons?<\/p>\n<section>\n      <\/section>\n<p>The research, published recently in the journal <i>Acta Astronautica<\/i>, marks the latest to explore a persistent, and perhaps surprising, hiccup in humanity&#8217;s dreams of colonizing the moon: dust. Astronauts walking or driving over the lunar surface kick up huge quantities of this fine material, also called regolith.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s really annoying,&#8221; said Xu Wang, a research associate in the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at CU Boulder. &#8220;Lunar dust sticks to all kinds of surfaces\u2014spacesuits, solar panels, helmets\u2014and it can damage equipment.&#8221;<br \/>\nSo he and his colleagues developed a possible fix\u2014one that makes use of an electron beam, a device that shoots out a concentrated (and safe) stream of negatively-charged, low-energy particles. In the new study, the team aimed such a tool at a range of dirty surfaces inside of a vacuum chamber. And, they discovered, the dust just flew away.<br \/>\n&#8220;It literally jumps off,&#8221; said lead author Benjamin Farr, who completed the work as an undergraduate student in physics at CU Boulder.<br \/>\nThe researchers still have a long way to go before real-life astronauts will be able to use the <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a> to do their daily tidying up. But, Farr said, the team&#8217;s early findings suggest that electron-beam dustbusters could be a fixture of moon bases in the not-too-distant future.<\/p>\n<figure itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/VideoObject\"><meta content=\"Researchers develop dustbuster for the moon\" itemprop=\"name\"><\/meta><meta content=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/-aHHWAeda6o\" itemprop=\"url\"><\/meta><meta content=\"Researchers develop dustbuster for the moon\" itemprop=\"description\"><\/meta><meta content=\"2020-08-31T11:59:15-04:00\" itemprop=\"uploadDate\"><\/meta><meta content=\"https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/-aHHWAeda6o\/maxresdefault.jpg\" itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\"><\/meta><br \/>\n             <iframe allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-aHHWAeda6o?color=white\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p><b>Spent gunpowder<\/b><br \/>\nThe <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> may be music to the ears of many Apollo-era astronauts. Several of these space pioneers complained about moon dust, which often resists attempts at cleaning even after vigorous brushing. Harrison &#8220;Jack&#8221; Schmitt, who visited the moon as a member of Apollo 17 in 1972, developed an allergic reaction to the material and has said that it smelled like &#8220;spent gunpowder.&#8221;<br \/>\nThe problem with lunar dust, Wang explained, is that it isn&#8217;t anything like the stuff that builds up on bookshelves on Earth. Moon dust is constantly bathed in radiation from the sun, a bombardment that gives the material an electric charge. That charge, in turn, makes the dust extra sticky, almost like a sock that&#8217;s just come out of the drier. It also has a distinct structure.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Lunar dust is very jagged and abrasive, like broken shards of glass,&#8221; Wang said.<br \/>\nThe question facing his group was then: How do you unstick this naturally clingy substance?<\/p>\n<div>\n<div data-src=\"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/2020\/209-researchersd.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"A microscope view of lunar \"simulant\" designed to mimic moon dust. Credit: IMPACT lab\" data-thumb=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/tmb\/2020\/209-researchersd.jpg\">\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Researchers develop dustbuster for the moon\" src=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/800\/2020\/209-researchersd.jpg\" title=\"A microscope view of lunar \"simulant\" designed to mimic moon dust. Credit: IMPACT lab\"><\/img><figcaption>\n                A microscope view of lunar &#8220;simulant&#8221; designed to mimic moon dust. Credit: IMPACT lab<br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Electron beams offered a promising solution. According to a theory developed from recent scientific studies of how dust naturally lofts on the lunar surface, such a device could turn the electric charges on particles of dust into a weapon against them. If you hit a layer dust with a stream of electrons, Wang said, that dusty surface will collect additional negative charges. Pack enough charges into the spaces in between the particles, and they may begin to push each other away\u2014much like magnets do when the wrong ends are forced together.<br \/>\n&#8220;The charges become so large that they repel each other, and then dust ejects off of the surface,&#8221; Wang said.<br \/>\n<b>Electron showers<\/b><br \/>\nTo test the idea, he and his colleagues loaded a vacuum chamber with various materials coated in a NASA-manufactured &#8220;lunar simulant&#8221; designed to resemble moon dust.<br \/>\nAnd sure enough, after aiming an electron beam at those particles, the dust poured off, usually in just a few minutes. The trick worked on a wide range of surfaces, too, including spacesuit fabric and glass. This new technology aims at cleaning the finest dust particles, which are difficult to remove using brushes, Wang said. The method was able to clean dusty surfaces by an average of about 75-85%.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div data-src=\"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/hires\/2020\/210-researchersd.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Top: A microscope view of NASA-manufactured lunar \"simulant\" designed to resemble moon dust; bottom: A vacuum chamber on the CU Boulder campus. Credit: IMPACT lab\" data-thumb=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/tmb\/2020\/210-researchersd.jpg\">\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Researchers develop dustbuster for the moon\" src=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/800\/2020\/210-researchersd.jpg\" title=\"Top: A microscope view of NASA-manufactured lunar \"simulant\" designed to resemble moon dust; bottom: A vacuum chamber on the CU Boulder campus. Credit: IMPACT lab\"><\/img><figcaption>\n                Top: A microscope view of NASA-manufactured lunar &#8220;simulant&#8221; designed to resemble moon dust; bottom: A vacuum chamber on the CU Boulder campus. Credit: IMPACT lab<br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8220;It worked pretty well, but not well enough that we&#8217;re done,&#8221; Farr said.<br \/>\nThe researchers are currently experimenting with new ways to increase the cleaning power of their electron beam.<br \/>\nBut study coauthor Mih\u00e1ly Hor\u00e1nyi, a professor in LASP and the Department of Physics at CU Boulder, said that the technology has real potential. NASA has experimented with other strategies for shedding lunar dust, such as by embedding networks of electrodes into spacesuits. An electron beam, however, might be a lot cheaper and easier to roll out.<br \/>\nHor\u00e1nyi imagines that one day, lunar astronauts could simply leave their spacesuits hanging up in a special room, or even outside their habitats, and clean them after spending a long day kicking up dust outside. The electrons would do the rest.<br \/>\n&#8220;You could just walk into an electron beam shower to remove fine dust,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<\/hr>\n<hr>\n<\/hr>\n<div>\n<p><strong>More information:<\/strong><br \/>\n                                                B. Farr et al, Dust mitigation technology for lunar exploration utilizing an electron beam, <i>Acta Astronautica<\/i> (2020).  DOI: 10.1016\/j.actaastro.2020.08.003\n                                                                                            <\/div>\n<div>\n                                            <strong>Citation<\/strong>:<br \/>\n                                                 Researchers develop dustbuster for the moon (2020, August 31)<br \/>\n                                                 retrieved 31 August 2020<br \/>\n                                                 from https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2020-08-dustbuster-moon.html<\/p>\n<p>                                            This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no<br \/>\n                                            part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more Like this articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/science\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Science category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>if you want to <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">watch Movies<\/a> or Tv Shows go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/dizi.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dizi.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a> <\/span> for forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#Researchers develop dustbuster for the moon&#8221; Dust sticks to the boots of Apollo 17 astronaut and geologist Harrison &#8220;Jack&#8221; Schmitt in 1972. Credit: NASA A team led by the University of Colorado Boulder is pioneering a new solution to the problem of spring cleaning on the moon: Why not zap away the grime using a&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[61706,12005],"class_list":["post-57382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sciencee","tag-researchers-develop-dustbuster-for-the-moon","tag-space-exploration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57382\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}