If we’re going back to the moon, we’re going to need to learn how to deal with the dust.
U.S. President Donald Trump has made returning to the moon a priority, and China and India both have lunar landers in the works. The endeavor is difficult for myriad reasons, but one borders on the prosaic — moon dust.
The moon is a dirty place. Apollo astronauts reported returning to their lander covered in dust that smelled of spent gunpowder — astronaut Alan Bean even worried that dust floating around the cabin was making it too difficult to breathe as they lifted off. The dust coated spacesuits, instruments, visors and skin. It occasionally caused serious problems. One astronaut, Harrison Schmitt, reported a mild allergic reaction, similar to hay fever, after a moon walk, and some scientists worry the fine particles could wreak havoc on our lungs.
A seismometer deployed by Apollo ...
