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 moons 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: