Moondust studied in anticipation for manned mission

Apr 22, 2008 09:59 GMT  ·  By

They say you can't build anything without it, and it is probably the best invention ever. I don't know about that, however duct tape saved the day during the Apollo 17 mission to the Moon. On 11 December 1972, the Apollo 17 mission landed on the Moon the lunar module Challenger, with astronauts Gene Cernan and Jack Schmitt on board. It was the first lunar mission ever to carry a geologist to the Moon in order to explore the geological diversity of giant boulders, glass beads, moon dust and hardened lava.

Two hours after the Challenger lunar module landed, it went out exploring the Moon in the Lunar Roving Vehicle, commonly known as the 'moonbuggy'. All was good until Cernan passed through the vicinity on the rover and caught by accident one of the rear fenders with a hammer in his pocked. "Oh, you won't believe it. There goes a fender," said Cernan.

On Earth, vehicles in general can role just fine without fenders over the wheels, albeit the Moon isn't Earth. Fine moon dust can be easily kicked up by the moonbuggy's wheels into a plume to spray everything around with dark, abrasive grit. Moon dust can easily enter hinges and joints to seize them up or scratch the glass on the visors of the space suits.

"And I hate to say it, but I'm going to have to take some time to try to get that fender back on. Jack, is the tape under my seat, do you remember," said Cernan while referring to the roll of ordinary duct tape.

Although the idea was good, dust prevented the tape from sticking to the fender the first time. The second attempt was more successful however, and the two were finally able to use the moonbuggy. After several hours of exploration on the surface, the fender fell again, covering the moonbuggy with a thick layer of moondust. "The dust on the battery covers and everything else was thick enough to write in. With a working fender you'd always got a light film of dust; but this was 'dirt' dust," said Cernan in a post-flight briefing.

The next day, NASA understood the importance of the situation, and the fact that the two astronauts would be limited only to walking distances if the fender problem wasn't solved. Again, duct take was the key, but this time they would use laminated maps, both because they were lighter than the fender and the duct tape would stick better to them. Not surprisingly, it held up for the rest of the mission.

NASA's plan to return a manned mission to the Moon by 2020 will more than certain first involve a thorough study on the moondust, and 'moondust mitigation' techniques in special. The LADEE spacecraft, for example, will orbit around the Moon between 2011 to 2012 in order to observe the 'dust storms' which occur due to electrostatic charging and low gravitational pull. Although the Constellation program will have considerably better understanding of the moondust's characteristics than the Apollo missions, duct tape will probably be one item which will not miss from the 'things to take' inventory.