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News & ArtsMonday, January 30, 2012
Science The United States of Moon Dust
Posted by Charles Mudede on Mon, Jan 30, 2012 at 2:04 PM
Those who live on the moon will know the meaning of dust. Every part of life on that little world will be met with dust. Dust on the shoes, dust in the food, dust in the nose, dust in the tears.
The Apollo Moon missions of 1969-1972 all share a dirty secret. “The major issue the Apollo astronauts pointed out was dust, dust, dust,” says Professor Larry Taylor, Director of the Planetary Geosciences Institute at the University of Tennessee. Fine as flour and rough as sandpaper, Moon dust caused ‘lunar hay fever,’ problems with space suits, and dust storms in the crew cabin upon returning to space.
It gets worse...
[L]unar dust suffers from a terrible case of static cling. UV rays drive electrons out of lunar dust by day, while the solar wind bombards it with electrons by night. Cleaning the resulting charged particles with wet-wipes only makes them cling harder to camera lenses and helmet visors.And when you sleep, you will dream of dust.
3
If a bunch of naked, tripping hippies can survive the dust at Burning Man every year, I'm sure NASA can come up with a way for highly-trained and well-equipped astronauts to cope. My suggestion: put your camera in a ziplock bag and just deal with the fact that you're going to be dusty until you come home.
5
Considering that an Apollo Command Module had a habitable internal volume of a little over 6 cubic meters (just slightly more room than that needed for three fully-suited astronauts to sit side-by-side), and also considering the primitive methods used for waste disposal, not to mention the complete lack of bathing options, and you can figure out pretty quickly that dust was really the least of their worries.
7
Reality repeatedly defies the aspirations of the imagination. See also: The toxicity of mercury, Nature's Most Entertaining Metal(tm).
8
Where the hell are you pulling those quotes from, Chuck? This is old, old news. Like from the early-'70s. Yeesh.
9
ARTHUR C CLARKE WROTE ABOUT THIS SHIT MORE THAN FIFTY YEARS AGO. CHUCK IS USELESS WHEN IT COMES TO NEWS; HE'S MORE USEFUL WHEN IT COMES TO 'OLDS'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Fall_of_M…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Fall_of_M…
10
Once Newt builds his moon base, the resource-extraction vehicles will go through wash stations on their way back into the airlocks, so no problem, once moon-rape starts for realz.
At least the future early-exploration and colony-set-up spacecraft won't have clunky, dust-susceptible mechanical switches and spinning gyros like the old ones.
At least the future early-exploration and colony-set-up spacecraft won't have clunky, dust-susceptible mechanical switches and spinning gyros like the old ones.
11
A cool book is "Sex on the Moon" about this young NASA scout and geologist who goes wild and tries to steal and fence some moon rocks on the Internet.
Fast read.
14
Apparently things we take with us: mold, germs, and etc. are the biggest problem to date.
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/sci…
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/sci…
19
Charles, did you just read "The Amber Spyglass" or something?
@13: http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/orig…
@13: http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/orig…
20
@5: Yeah, I get the impression that cramped conditions, personal hygiene, and no privacy were the biggest concerns for astronauts. As Jim Lovell said about his experience in the Gemini program, "Two weeks with Frank Borman anyplace is a trial."
21
Any dust causes static - it doesn't have to be moon dust. On the dustbowl period:
A single storm generated enough static electricity to short radios and cars and caused blue flames to erupt from barbed wire fences. It was so strong it even knocked full grown men off their feet if they accidentally touched or shook hands. People would drag chains in order to offset the static electricity. On Black Tuesday, enough static electricity was produced to power New York City.
22
@20:
Yeah, as bad as the Apollo missions must have been, Gemini VII had to have been the absolute worst. Imagine being trapped inside an MG Midget for two solid weeks and never being able to roll the windows down.
Yeah, as bad as the Apollo missions must have been, Gemini VII had to have been the absolute worst. Imagine being trapped inside an MG Midget for two solid weeks and never being able to roll the windows down.
23
I must agree with @7 and ask the question: Wouldja mind providing either a link to the original article or (at minimum) a citation, Charles? Charles? Or would that offend your post-modern sense of ""style."" (Yes, two sets of quotation marks. Parse that, bitch.)
I swear to God, if I had the wherewithal, I'd buy this rag and give you a one-way ticket to Italy as a severance package.
I swear to God, if I had the wherewithal, I'd buy this rag and give you a one-way ticket to Italy as a severance package.
24
Ashes to ashes, funk to funky
We know Major Tom's a junkie
Sitting on heaven's high
Hitting an all time low
We know Major Tom's a junkie
Sitting on heaven's high
Hitting an all time low
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