Dusting
the house might be a chore here on
Earth, but when astronauts return to
the Moon, they'll need to be
neat freaks. Their lives might
depend on it! According to
researchers at the National Space
Biomedical Research Institute, the
health of lunar astronauts will
depend on how well they can keep the
fine lunar dust out of the air.
During the Apollo lunar missions in
the 1960s and 1970s, astronauts
realized how much this lunar dust
was a hassle to their exploration of
the Moon. The tiny particles clung
to everything, and when the
astronauts returned to their lander,
it made a real nuisance. By the end
of their missions, the astronauts
said there was so much dust in their
vehicles that they could smell it.
There are no known illnesses associated with the dust today; but the astronauts just weren't exposed to it long enough. But scientists studying it back on Earth found that the dust was very similar to fresh-fractured quartz, which is highly toxic to humans. When astronauts return to the Moon in the next decade, they could be on the Moon for months, and exposed to much larger quantities of the dust.
And there's another problem. Because of the reduced gravity on the Moon, and the tiny size of the dust particles, our respiratory system might not be able to handle the particles as well as we do on Earth. Here's Dr. Kim Prisk, an adjunct professor in the Department of Medicine at the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego:
"In the moon’s fractional gravity, particles remain suspended in the airways rather than settling out, increasing the chances of distribution deep in the lung, with the possible consequence that the particles will remain there for a long period of time."
To conduct their research, the scientists are taking participants on NASA's Microgravity Research Aircraft. This is a special aircraft that flies on a parabolic path. At the height of each arc, people on board the aircraft experience a brief period of low gravity, or even weightlessness.
When the gravity is lowered to the same as the Moon, the participants breath in small particles, which the researchers then study as they move down the airways. They want to know how many end up in the lungs. The deeper the dust goes into the lungs, the more dangerous it'll be.
Again, here's Dr. Prisk:
