Dust-In| Dust Yourself Off
Project Details
The Challenge | Dust Yourself Off
Per pulverem ad astra
An innovative solution that prevents lunar dust from damaging both humans and equipment.
MOTIVATION
Fifty years ago we sent the first man to the moon, today it is up to us the "Artemis" generation to continue this legacy. This time we' re going back to stay. So we will have to face new threats, such as the lunar regolith.
PROBLEM
Lunar dust is one of major problem we are going to face in the upcoming lunar missions. It poses a risk both for man and for machines, causing permanent damage to the human body as well as damaging instruments structures.
PROPOSEDSOLUTION
In order to achieve the best possible dust prevention we propose three concepts. We figured it would be best to tackle the problem at it's root.
In the first place, we propose an additional layer from NASA's new xEMU-suits, this special layers is made off graphene coated glass fibers . By adding this special layer, we would greatly increase the suits tensile strength, abrasion resistance and durability.
The second concept in aimed at eliminating contamination through the seals. By applying electrodynamic dust Shields (EDS) technology, we would create an electrodynamic field in proximity of the seals, thus repelling the dust.
The third concept consist of an extractable module before the airlock; the astronauts climbs the ladder, reaches the first hatch and goes in to the "decontamination module". Once the hatch is sealed magnets, which attract the metallic elements of the dust, are activated thereby cleaning the spacesuit.
After a first clean-up, a mass spectrometer is going to inspect the remaining dust. If the results exceed a given limited value, the cleaning process must be repeated.
CONCLUSION
We are proud of the results of our work. We would like to improve our ideas also after the end of the Space Apps Challenge.
RESOURCES
Autodesk Inventor
https://isru.nasa.gov/MetalsfromRegolith.html
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304388612001118
"Dust yourself off" example resources;
"Dust yourself off and try again" Space Apps Chat;