Question moon dust

[E.B.E1]

Human Beings going back to the moon and its inevitable that humanity will go on to visit and live on Mars.
All the challenges ahead in order to achieve just going back to the moon is far from a certainty, moon dust is one of the most corrosive materials that man has ever come across and all the damage caused to suits and equipment was a cause for concern, and it's suspected that's why the Japanese luner rover malfunctioned soon after start up .
if it's the case then it's probably going to be the astronauts biggest survivle hazard.
hopefully nasa will have learnt a lot from the previous landings and the introduction of the public sector has taken space travel and return to another level.
beware moon dust

 

[Jim Franklin]

Human Beings going back to the moon and its inevitable that humanity will go on to visit and live on Mars.
All the challenges ahead in order to achieve just going back to the moon is far from a certainty, moon dust is one of the most corrosive materials that man has ever come across and all the damage caused to suits and equipment was a cause for concern, and it's suspected that's why the Japanese luner rover malfunctioned soon after start up .
if it's the case then it's probably going to be the astronauts biggest survivle hazard.
hopefully nasa will have learnt a lot from the previous landings and the introduction of the public sector has taken space travel and return to another level.
beware moon dust

Few things to unpack here.

1. Lunar regolith is not corrosive, nor is it toxic, however, it is highly damaging to mechanical systems and would be to human lungs if breathed in. It is very similar to volcanic ash and whilst it may look like it has the consistancy of talcum powder, it is actually more like small pieces of highly durable glass.
2. NASA is fully away of the problems of lunar regolith, they have the experience from Apollo and from landers. They have suits designed to account for the regolith and are actively investigating ways to mitigate the threat it poses. The biggest challenge is the fact is is naturally negatively charged, which is why it sticks to everything that is not at the same charge state. They are concerned it could be carried, by suits and boots, into habitats where it could enter ventilation systems and cause both mechanical and health issues. Filtering this out is a major engineering challenge and one they have been working on at Marshall Space Flight Centre for a number of years - it is not as easy as it sounds as the regolith rips conventional filtration systems to shreds in short order, or it gums them up.
3. The Japanese are and were well aware of the problems caused by the lunar regolith, they had information from NASA, Roscosmos and other sources from multiple landers over decades. The problem they faced was a technical one and not an environmental one.

Overall, all the space agencies are fully aware of the dangers and potential hazards caused by the lunar regolith, SpaceX and NASA are working jointly to design systems that mitigate these dangers, and this information is also passed to the Chinese, who plan their own human exploration of the Moon, because no-one wants to see fatalities on the Lunar surface as this will cause massive damage to the Lunar Manned Spaceflight programs.