Skip to content

ESDMD #0801: Lunar Dust-Tolerant Systems and Dust Mitigation

Rated 1 of 57 (bin 1). Lunar dust is "jagged and electrostatically charged", and long-life lunar systems need to operate in it: heat rejection, solar power, EVA, rovers, mechanisms, seals and habitats. The target is systems that operate "for expected durations or longer" and keep dust off external surfaces and out of habitable volumes. It is named in the Moon Base Users Guide (near-term), as a technology challenge (Tech gaps spreadsheet, ESDMD #0801; Users Guide, p. 12).

Quotations below are from row ESDMD #0801 of the tech gaps spreadsheet unless marked otherwise. ADD Rev C's Appendix D prints the same table for this gap, and it matches the row field for field (ADD Rev C, p. 236).

Description

"Lunar dust has been established as a concern for EVA, mobility, and surface assets. Lunar dust particles are jagged and electrostatically charged, causing potential problems for systems regardless of mission or surface destination. Long-life lunar systems require solutions to ensure subsystems are operable and tolerant to dusty environments. Examples of affected subsystems include surface heat rejection, surface solar power, EVA, rovers, mechanisms, seals, and surface habitats. Additionally, dust mitigation technologies can be leveraged to reduce the impact of dust on systems/subsystems."

Impacts and benefits: "Without gap closure, systems may be damaged by dust particles and unable to perform at expected reliabilities or for expected durations."

Current state of the art

"Dust-tolerant systems used during Apollo missions. Terrestrial-based applications, such as flange couplings used in the oil and gas industry. These applications would need to be tested in the applicable environment first before being ready for use on a mission."

Performance target

Moon: "Systems should be capable of operating efficiently for expected durations or longer, as well as preventing extreme wear and tear to the system or mechanisms from lunar dust. Prevention and/or removal of dust accumulation/adhesion is desired for external systems and for internal habitable spaces to allow for operational capability."

Child gaps

  • 0801-01: Lunar dust tolerant thermal systems
  • 0801-02: Mitigation of lunar dust transfer between surface vehicles/elements
  • 0801-03: Lunar surface EVA suit dust mitigation tools and systems
  • 0801-04: Lunar dust mitigation via surface coatings, treatments, and/or topography modifications of hardware
  • 0801-05: Lunar dust mitigation via active methods
  • 0801-06: Filtration and mitigation of lunar dust in habitable cabin volumes

Traceability

  • Use cases and functions: UC-U-804 L; UC-M-101 L -- FN-M-101 L
  • Definition tasks: none listed

Segments and sub-architectures

Priority

Priority bin 1, overall prioritization rating 1 of 57. The rating is "the gap's location in the prioritized list of gaps", so 1 is the highest priority, and bins group gaps of similar priority, bin 1 highest. Criticality, urgency, breadth and depth set the order; cost is not considered (ADD Rev C, pp. 78, 199; method on the gaps index).

Moon Base relevance

The guide lists #0101, #0201, #0301, #0801 and #0804 together against the three technology bullets of the long-duration challenge, without assigning gaps to bullets. The bullet quoted below is the one closest to this gap's subject.

The Users Guide names #0801 under the headline challenge "Operating on the lunar surface for long durations". Its technology challenge includes: "Develop mitigation systems and strategies to limit system degradation from lunar dust, which is extremely abrasive and electrostatic, meaning it will cling to and damage surface hardware" (Users Guide, p. 12). The guide ties its challenges to "near-term Moon Base development efforts": missions in phase one "offer opportunities to collect data and mature technologies to enable essential phase two and phase three capabilities" (p. 11). See Technology and knowledge challenges.

Same subject in the Ignition material (the pairing is the wiki's; the deck names no gap). The Moon Base Program's Ignition deck has "Demonstrate dust tolerant electrical connectors" in Phase 2 and "Dust tolerant electrical connectors" under Phase 3's power distribution (Ignition deck 2, slide 54). This gap lists "surface solar power" and "seals" among the subsystems dust affects, but none of its six child gaps is about connectors. The Users Guide puts dust tolerant connections under its "Electrical connections" challenge, which cites #0903, not this gap; the child gap on connectors is 0201-02, "Cold- and dust-tolerant electronics interfaces and connectors", under #0201.

Sources

Tech gaps spreadsheet, ESDMD #0801 · ADD Rev C, pp. 78, 199, 236 · Users Guide, pp. 12–13 · Ignition deck 2, slides 54, 62