Dusty Plasma Effects on the surfaces of the Moon and Mars

Details Dusty Plasma Effects on the surfaces of the Moon and Mars Dusty Plasma Effects on the surfaces of the Moon and Mars

Dec 2004

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004agufmsh54a..04h&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2004, abstract #SH54A-04

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

7514 Energetic Particles (2114), 7554 X Rays, Gamma Rays, And Neutrinos, 2152 Pickup Ions, 2164 Solar Wind Plasma, 2411 Electric Fields (2712)

Scientific paper

After a long break following the Apollo missions, the Moon is likely to become again the target of in situ investigations, serving as our gateway to land people on Mars. Although a layer of fine dust had been predicted for the moon, dust "storms" were not anticipated because of the absence of an atmosphere. The Lunar Ejecta and Meteorite (LEAM) experiment detectors deployed by Apollo 17 showed, unexpectedly, that most impacts were due to lunar dust levitated and transported electrostatically. There are significant technical challenges related to the mitigation of dust hazards for humans and instruments. For example, dust clinging to space suits became a nuisance for the astronauts returning to their habitats on the Moon. The surface of Mars represent a very different environment, where charging is likely to occur due to wind-entrained dust collisions, in addition to possible UV charging. These effects are likely to results in electrostatic discharges and possibly interfere with surface instrumentation and human activities. In this talk we will review our current theoretical models for dusty plasma effects on the Moon and Mars, and also summarize ongoing laboratory efforts to verify these models. These experiments address dust charging, electrostatic levitation and transport on the Moon, and also the possible electrification and discharges that might occur on Mars. We will conclude with a summary of the outstanding issues to be addressed by in situ measurements and the possible instrumentation for these investigations.

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