Theoretical and Experimental Study of Lunar Dust Dynamics
| Autor: | Champlain, A, Matéo Velez, J.C., Roussel, J.F., Chardon, J.P. |
|---|---|
| Přispěvatelé: | André, Cécile, ONERA - The French Aerospace Lab [Toulouse], ONERA |
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2014 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | SFE 2014 SFE 2014, Aug 2014, TOULOUSE, France |
| Popis: | International audience; One of the most important problems on the Moon, reported during the Apollo missions, is lunar dust. Its surface is covered with a layer of very fine grains (20 µm and less), very abrasive which tend to stick on any surface, producing malfunction of devices, degradation of thermal control coatings or bad accuracy of measurements. These dusts were also observed to levitate above the lunar surface by astronauts and, thereby, generated a reduced visibility. It is therefore necessary to understand the physical mechanisms that govern this dynamics on the Moon and on asteroids by providing a physical model taking into account electrostatic charge phenomena, transport and adhesion of dust, stemming from interactions with the space environment and materials of interest for exploration systems. Consequently, it is required to know the environmental conditions favoring transport of particles to set up experiments. In this article, semi-analytical models of charged dust dynamics will be presented, based on literature data of the conditions over the Moon surface. We also present experimental investigations conducted in ONERA vacuum chamber in Toulouse. The main objective of this experimental study is to observe the levitation of dust grains as a function of key parameters: electric field, dust radius distribution, charging environments. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|