| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
MS&T23: Materials Science & Technology
|
| Symposium
|
Manufacturing and Processing of Advanced Ceramic Materials
|
| Presentation Title |
Optimizing Ceramic Surfaces for Dust-tolerant Lunar Exploration |
| Author(s) |
Valerie L. Wiesner, Christopher Wohl, Glen King, Jonathan Hernandez, Keith Gordon, Lopamudra Das, Samuel Ruiz, Luke Wadle, Bai Cui |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Valerie L. Wiesner |
| Abstract Scope |
Environmental challenges threaten long-term durability of vehicles, habitats and other critical technologies operating on the lunar surface. Numerous lessons were learned from Apollo missions pertaining to lunar dust. The jagged particles readily adhered to surfaces, and any disturbances of dust at the lunar surface culminated in abrasive wear on exposed surfaces. Establishing a sustainable lunar presence will require materials technologies to mitigate and/or manage lunar dust. Recent work has shown some ceramic compositions may minimize dust adhesion compared to other traditionally employed materials, in addition to enhanced wear resistance. Surface modification has been demonstrated an effective passive dust mitigation mechanism that could be leveraged in Moon-based applications. The aim of this work was to identify and characterize ceramics that minimize adhesion and abrasion caused by lunar dust. Various ceramic coatings and materials were considered. Results from testing to evaluate and mimic aspects of lunar dust degradation will be presented. |