Implicit lunar dust mitigation technology: Compliant mechanisms

Budzyń, Dorota; Zare‐Behtash, Hossein; Cowley, Aidan; Cammarano, Andrea

doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2022.11.042

Cited by 15 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Artemis will send the first human missions to the lunar south pole, and if water-ice interactions do indeed generate a higher concentration of fine particulate material on the lunar surface as they did for our samples, astronauts may face greater difficulties when working in the lunar regolith environment than they did during the Apollo era. Much research is currently being conducted regarding in situ resource utilization (e.g., Purrington et al 2022;Olthoff et al 2023;Slumba 2023), dust mitigation and interactions (e.g., Cao et al 2023;Hirabayashi et al 2023;Wells et al 2023), rover and tool development (e.g., Budzyn et al 2023;Long-Fox et al 2023), and astronaut health and safety (e.g., Pohlen et al 2022). However, our understanding of the particle size distribution of the lunar regolith and the processes acting to mechanically break down the regolith in the lunar polar regions and the PSRs, which greatly affects all aforementioned areas of research, is limited.…”

Section: Implications For Future Lunar Surface Sciencementioning

confidence: 99%

Morphological and Spectral Characterization of Lunar Regolith Breakdown due to Water Ice

Shackelford,

Donaldson Hanna,

Horton

et al. 2024

Planet. Sci. J.

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Remote sensing observations of the Moon suggest that the lunar polar regolith environment is affected by several natural processes that may cause the regolith in these regions to become more porous and fine particulate. One of these processes may be the mechanical breakdown of regolith particles through the interaction of water ice and regolith by frost wedging. We present morphological and spectral analyses of high-fidelity lunar regolith simulants LHS-1 (lunar highlands simulant-1) and LMS-1 (lunar mare simulant-1) that have been exposed to varying concentrations of water ice (1, 10, and 30 wt%) over extended periods of time (1, 3, and 6 months) to evaluate the extent at which lunar regolith may be weathered by ice-regolith interactions in the Moon’s polar regions. To characterize changes in regolith particle morphology, we explored grain size and shape parameters with the CILAS ExpertShape suite and characterized the abundance and evolution of clinging fines with scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Reflectance spectra were taken from 1.0–22.5 μm (444.4–10,000 cm−1) to characterize any differences in spectral features that may occur as a result of regolith breakdown. Both the morphological and spectral investigations display trends that show simulant particle degradation as a function of composition, increasing water concentration, and freezing time. Our study demonstrates that the lunar regolith is susceptible to mechanical breakdown in the presence of water ice and that water ice is likely a contributor to the weathering environment within permanently shadowed regions on the lunar surface.

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Section: Implications For Future Lunar Surface Sciencementioning

confidence: 99%

Morphological and Spectral Characterization of Lunar Regolith Breakdown due to Water Ice

Shackelford,

Donaldson Hanna,

Horton

et al. 2024

Planet. Sci. J.

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“…NASA released a few Requests for Proposals in this regard at 2021 [10]. In a recent overview [11], the various dust mitigation attempts and trials are discussed in detail.…”

Section: Current Concepts and Approaches Of Passive And Active Lunar ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Regolith adherence characterization (RAC) experiment on the Moon and it’s ground-based simulation: Materials Issues

Kleiman

Iskanderova

Krishtein³

et al. 2023

IOP Conf. Ser.: Mater. Sci. Eng.

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The interaction of Lunar dust and other environmental factors, like vacuum, temperatures, solar radiation, ultraviolet irradiation, and electron (e-) and proton (p+) irradiation with structures on the Moon and the outside of the future Gateway Lunar station may lead to permanent change or complete loss of thermal, optical, and other functionalities that could potentially lead to catastrophic failures. Among these factors, Lunar regolith dust is the most aggressive, causing the main problems. ITL recently initiated a program to evaluate, further develop, and enhance its unique cornerstone Lunar Dust Mitigation Technology (DMT) for sensitive materials on external space structures. In the framework of this program, ITL prepared a set of DMT-treated samples for inclusion in the “Regolith Adherence Characterization (RAC) Payload” funded by NASA and developed and built by Aegis. Regolith Adherence Characterization (RAC) Payload mission will determine how lunar regolith dust sticks to a range of space materials and coatings (collected from NASA, academia, and industry) exposed to the Moon’s environment at different phases of flight caused by 1) landing, and 2) during routine lander operations. To understand the results of the Lunar exposure experiment, an extensive program was initiated at ITL where a set of experiments on interaction of Lunar dust simulants with samples, similar to the RAC Payload experiments on the Moon, will be conducted in ITL’s Vacuum Lunar Dusty Environment Simulator that will be upgraded for this project. This paper will discuss mainly the material problems and their preparation for experiments. The detailed description of the Vacuum Lunar Dusty Environment Simulator and the results obtained in it will be published elsewhere in upcoming publications.

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“…Budzyn et al [96] performed topology optimization as a design method to enhance hardware performance in the lunar dust environment. The knowledge gained from the Apollo missions revealed that lunar regolith particles possess sharp edges, carry electrostatic charges, exhibit adhesive properties, and pose a significant risk to mission hardware.…”

Section: Review On Application Of Martian and Lunar Simulantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Abrasion Evaluation of Moon and Mars Simulants on Rotating Shaft/Sealing Materials: Simulants and Structural Materials Review and Selection

Barkó,

Kalácska,

Keresztes

et al. 2023

Lubricants

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Tribological testing of moving shaft/sealing pairs in complex environments is at the frontline of research. Machines working in abrasive conditions are subject to different wear effects. It is not only valid on Earth but especially valid for rovers and future robots used in Mars and Moon missions. The aim of our joint research with the European Space Agency is to study the abrasion phenomena of moving machine elements on Mars and the Moon by using artificial soil samples (“simulants”). This review details mainly the available simulant sources and recommend a selection of the most suitable ones for tribological testing. Moreover, the potential mating structural materials subjected to abrasive space applications are reviewed briefly. The tribological tests are exploring the features of the rotary shaft/seal relationship that is subject to dry friction and intense abrasion. By using the simulants, measurements are performed under laboratory conditions with both a sample test and a real shaft/seal connection. Parameters of the selection criteria were defined, and classification of the simulant sources were made. It was found that simulant particle size distribution and chemical substance content are detailed enough only for a limited type of available artificial Moon and Mars soil samples. Four simulants were identified and applied later in the tribological testing. For the shaft materials, based on a detailed case study of polymers, steel, and aluminum alloys, a high-strength aluminum alloy with a hard anodized surface and a stainless steel were selected for further abrasion tests.

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Implicit lunar dust mitigation technology: Compliant mechanisms

Cited by 15 publications

References 22 publications

Morphological and Spectral Characterization of Lunar Regolith Breakdown due to Water Ice

Morphological and Spectral Characterization of Lunar Regolith Breakdown due to Water Ice

Regolith adherence characterization (RAC) experiment on the Moon and it’s ground-based simulation: Materials Issues

Abrasion Evaluation of Moon and Mars Simulants on Rotating Shaft/Sealing Materials: Simulants and Structural Materials Review and Selection

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