Evaluation of Lunar Dust Mitigation Technologies on the Moon and in Ground Simulators

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 the thermal, optical, and other functionalities that could potentially lead to catastrophic failures. Among the other factors, lunar regolith dust is the most aggressive, causing the main problems.<br/>To evaluate the efficiency of passive dust mitigation techniques, a materials experiment that was funded by NASA and developed and built by Alpha Space Test and Research Alliance, named Regolith Adherence Characterization (RAC) Payload, will be launched to the Moon in 2023-2024 timeframe. The goals of the RAC Payload mission are to evaluate several materials and coatings with dust mitigation properties for their ability to repel or shed lunar regolith/dust, (e. g. solar cells, optical systems, coatings, sensors) and to determine regolith accumulation rates: 1) caused by landing, and 2) during routine lander operations.<br/>ITL is taking part in this experiment with four samples. Through a series of experiments in the ITL-developed Lunar Simulator, ITL demonstrated that it is possible to mitigate accumulation of lunar dust simulant, and enhance surface durability of some important sensitive external structural materials using a special ITL dust mitigation technology.<br/>To complement the information from the RAC samples on the Moon, 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 that ITL used for the RAC samples. In the framework of this program, ITL is preparing a set of DMT-treated samples as well as samples closely resembling the ones on the RAC Payload cassette. <br/>To understand the results of the RAC lunar exposure experiment, we will conduct an extensive set of experiments on interaction of lunar dust simulants with sample surfaces, similar to the RAC Payload experiments on the Moon, in our Lunar Environment Simulator that will be upgraded for this project.