Moon from International Space Station. Image via ESA.
When the Apollo astronauts returned from the moon, the dust that clung to their spacesuits made their throats sore and their eyes water. Lunar dust is made of sharp, abrasive and nasty particles, but how toxic is it for humans?
The “lunar hay fever”, as NASA astronaut Harrison Schmitt described it during 1972’s Apollo 17 mission, created symptoms in all 12 people who have stepped on the moon. From sneezing to nasal congestion, in some cases it took days for the reactions to fade. Inside the spacecraft, the dust smelled like burnt gunpowder.
The moon missions left an unanswered question of lunar exploration – one that could affect humanity’s next steps in the solar system: can lunar dust jeopardize human health?
Moon dust on astronaut after spacewalk. Image via NASA.
An ambitious European Space Agency (ESA) research program with experts from around the planet is now addressing the issues related to lunar dust.
Kim Prisk, a pulmonary physiologist from the University of California with over 20 years of experience in human spaceflight is one of the 12 scientists taking part in ESA’s research. Prisk said:
We don’t know how bad this dust is. It all comes down to an effort to estimate the degree of risk involved.
Nasty dust
Lunar dust has silicate in it, a material commonly found on planetary bodies with volcanic activity. Miners on Earth suffer from inflamed and scarred lungs from inhaling silicate. On the moon, the dust is so abrasive that it ate away layers of spacesuit boots and destroyed the vacuum seals of Apollo sample containers.
Lunar dust particle. Image via ESA.
Fine like powder, but sharp like glass. The low gravity of the moon, one sixth of what we have on Earth, allows tiny particles to stay suspended for longer and penetrate more deeply into the lung. Prisk explained:
Particles 50 times smaller than a human hair can hang around for months inside your lungs. The longer the particle stays, the greater the chance for toxic effects.
The potential damage from inhaling this dust is unknown but research shows that lunar soil simulants can destroy lung and brain cells after long-term exposure.
Down to the particle
On Earth, fine particles tend to smoothen over years of erosion by wind and water, lunar dust however, is not round, but sharp and spiky.
In addition the moon has no atmosphere and is constantly bombarded by radiation from the sun that causes the soil to become electrostatically charged.
Collecting lunar samples. Image via NASA.
This charge can be so strong that the dust levitates above the lunar surface, making it even more likely to get inside equipment and people’s lungs.
Dusty workplace
To test equipment and the behavior of lunar dust, ESA will be working with simulated moon dust mined from a volcanic region in Germany.
Working with the simulant is no easy feat. Erin Tranfield, biologist and expert in dust toxicity, said:
The rarity of the lunar glass-like material makes it a special kind of dust. We need to grind the source material but that means removing the sharp edges.
The lunar soil does have a bright side, explained science advisor Aidan Cowley.
You can heat it to produce bricks that can offer shelter for astronauts. Oxygen can be extracted from the soil to sustain human missions on the moon.
Bottom line: Can lunar dust jeopardize human health?
from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2O3Deph
Moon from International Space Station. Image via ESA.
When the Apollo astronauts returned from the moon, the dust that clung to their spacesuits made their throats sore and their eyes water. Lunar dust is made of sharp, abrasive and nasty particles, but how toxic is it for humans?
The “lunar hay fever”, as NASA astronaut Harrison Schmitt described it during 1972’s Apollo 17 mission, created symptoms in all 12 people who have stepped on the moon. From sneezing to nasal congestion, in some cases it took days for the reactions to fade. Inside the spacecraft, the dust smelled like burnt gunpowder.
The moon missions left an unanswered question of lunar exploration – one that could affect humanity’s next steps in the solar system: can lunar dust jeopardize human health?
Moon dust on astronaut after spacewalk. Image via NASA.
An ambitious European Space Agency (ESA) research program with experts from around the planet is now addressing the issues related to lunar dust.
Kim Prisk, a pulmonary physiologist from the University of California with over 20 years of experience in human spaceflight is one of the 12 scientists taking part in ESA’s research. Prisk said:
We don’t know how bad this dust is. It all comes down to an effort to estimate the degree of risk involved.
Nasty dust
Lunar dust has silicate in it, a material commonly found on planetary bodies with volcanic activity. Miners on Earth suffer from inflamed and scarred lungs from inhaling silicate. On the moon, the dust is so abrasive that it ate away layers of spacesuit boots and destroyed the vacuum seals of Apollo sample containers.
Lunar dust particle. Image via ESA.
Fine like powder, but sharp like glass. The low gravity of the moon, one sixth of what we have on Earth, allows tiny particles to stay suspended for longer and penetrate more deeply into the lung. Prisk explained:
Particles 50 times smaller than a human hair can hang around for months inside your lungs. The longer the particle stays, the greater the chance for toxic effects.
The potential damage from inhaling this dust is unknown but research shows that lunar soil simulants can destroy lung and brain cells after long-term exposure.
Down to the particle
On Earth, fine particles tend to smoothen over years of erosion by wind and water, lunar dust however, is not round, but sharp and spiky.
In addition the moon has no atmosphere and is constantly bombarded by radiation from the sun that causes the soil to become electrostatically charged.
Collecting lunar samples. Image via NASA.
This charge can be so strong that the dust levitates above the lunar surface, making it even more likely to get inside equipment and people’s lungs.
Dusty workplace
To test equipment and the behavior of lunar dust, ESA will be working with simulated moon dust mined from a volcanic region in Germany.
Working with the simulant is no easy feat. Erin Tranfield, biologist and expert in dust toxicity, said:
The rarity of the lunar glass-like material makes it a special kind of dust. We need to grind the source material but that means removing the sharp edges.
The lunar soil does have a bright side, explained science advisor Aidan Cowley.
You can heat it to produce bricks that can offer shelter for astronauts. Oxygen can be extracted from the soil to sustain human missions on the moon.
Bottom line: Can lunar dust jeopardize human health?
from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2O3Deph
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