Magnetic Cleaning Device for Lunar Dust Adhering to Spacesuits
Publication: Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 25, Issue 1
Abstract
The removal of lunar dust adhering to spacesuits is essential for the long-term exploration of the Moon. Because lunar dust is magnetic, a convenient cleaning device that utilizes magnetic force has been developed. The device can capture and separate lunar dust continuously with a multipole magnetic roller. The observed separation rate was 90%, but the capture rate was low, resulting in an overall cleaning rate of 40%. The rate increased when large amounts of dust adhered to the fabric. Although it was difficult to capture small particles trapped between fabric fibers, this device will be able to preliminarily clean spacesuits and save the precious activity time of astronauts on the Moon.
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Acknowledgments
The writers would like to express their gratitude to Yoshinori Abe, Yuta Matsui, Daisuke Shimamoto, and Yuichiro Nakagawa (Waseda University) for their support in carrying out the experiment and to Prof. Lawrence Taylor (University of Tennessee) for his beneficial advice. Lunar dust simulant was provided by Shimiz Corp, and samples of the fabric were provided by ILC Dover and Oceaneering Space Systems. A part of this study was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 25 • Issue 1 • January 2012
Pages: 139 - 142
Copyright
© 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 15, 2010
Accepted: Jan 5, 2011
Published online: Jan 7, 2011
Published in print: Jan 1, 2012
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