14 DAY TRIAL // As the technology necessary to establish a permanent human colony on the Moon is coming into existence, experts are trying to quantify the nature and extent of the damages Earth's natural satellite can cause on the human body. The situation is somewhat bleak, scientists agree.
According to their studies – which also include reports compiled by the Apollo astronauts who actually visited the Moon – it would appear that the lunar environment is damaging in more ways than one.
Analyzing how the Moon threatens human health is made difficult by the fact that the only direct experiences humankind has had with the satellite were very short, lasting just 2-3 days. No Apollo mission spent more time than that on the object's surface.
While the NASA astronauts were well protected inside their space suits, they report that a quantity of dust from the lunar atmosphere became lodged in various cracks of the suit, and were eventually brought inside the spacecraft.
All astronauts reported adverse effects on account of this dust, on the skin, eyes and respiratory airways. This contamination occurred within the actual spacecraft, so they are indicative that airlocks and decontamination rooms will be absolutely necessary for future human outposts.
The new investigation was carried out by a multidisciplinary, international research team, which featured physiologists, pharmacologists, radiologists and toxicologists from 5 countries, Astrobiology Magazine reports.
Dust inhalation was found to be the most severe problem. Though it cannot be inhaled during extravehicular activities, it can make its way back into living and working areas. If we are to settle the Moon permanently, effective decontamination methods need to be set in place.
Skin damage is also a possibility. The regolith (soil) covering the lunar surface was never subjected to any kind of erosion, so it is extremely rugged and sharp-edged. At numerous locations, the soils are covered in glass produced by massive asteroid impacts.
“The Apollo astronauts reported undesirable effects affecting the skin, eyes and airways that could be related to exposure to the dust that had adhered to their space suits during their extravehicular activities and was subsequently brought into their spacecraft,” says researcher Dag Linnarsson.
He is the lead author of a paper called “Toxicity of Lunar Dust,” which details the results of the new study.