Solution To Clean Space Dust From Mars Exploration Vehicles

If keeping dust under control at your house is a challenge, imagine keeping clear the solar panels that power unmanned exploration vehicles on Mars.
Sid Clements, a physics professor at Appalachian State University, is part of a 12-member team of scientists across the United States working on a NASA project to solve the problem.

Clements's research at Appalachian focuses on both electrostatic applications and electrostatic hazards in the space program, including those in the Space Shuttle, International Space Station, and the exploration of the moon and Mars.

Even before unmanned research vehicles landed on Mars, scientists knew that dust would become a problem, Clements said. "There's no solution so far," he explained. "The dust slowly accumulates on the solar panel to the point it can't generate enough power."

Because the atmosphere on Mars is so thin and conditions are extremely dry, dust particles become charged, making them stick more readily to surfaces. "You can't just wipe charged dust off a surface with a brush," Clements said. "It's a big problem."

Working with both undergraduate and graduate students in Appalachian's Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clements is designing and testing prototypes of an electromagnetic screen that might successfully remove dust from solar cell panels on Mars Exploration Rovers.

The test screen looks like a small printed circuit board, minus the diodes and transistors. The screen has high-voltage, multiphase electrodes that produce a traveling electric field or "wave" which carries the charged dust particles off the surface.

The next step in the research will be to test screens with transparent conductors made of indium tin oxide or carbon nanotubes that would not interfere with the solar panels' operation.

Clements is testing screen designs in his campus lab simulating Martian conditions in a depressurized chamber, complete with simulated Mars dust made from volcanic material from Hawaii. What he and other scientists learn in the lab will also be applied to other applications.

Lunar dust particles were a problem for Apollo astronauts on the moon. Dust from the surface accumulated on their space suits and worked its way into various mechanical joints. Thermal radiators used to dispel heat on the lunar roving vehicle had to be covered during sorties to prevent dust accumulation, which limited the LRV's range.

Astronauts inadvertently carried dust into the lunar module where it affected air quality in the spacecraft. This is a health risk because lunar dust contains sharp particles that resemble silica or glass that can cause silicosis, a serious lung disease.

Clements's work for the Kennedy Space Center's Electrostatics and Surface Physics Laboratory is expected to take two years to complete. The overall project is being coordinated by the University of Arkansas-Little Rock. Clements's research grant totals $86,870.

Copyright 2005 by Space Daily, Distributed United Press International

Related stories:

NASA supercomputer shows how dust rings point to exo-Earths
(PhysOrg.com) -- Supercomputer simulations of dusty disks around sunlike stars show that planets nearly as small as Mars can create patterns that future telescopes may be able to detect. The research points to a new avenue in the search for habitable planets.
Worlds in collision
Two terrestrial planets orbiting a mature sun-like star some 300 light-years from Earth recently suffered a violent collision, astronomers at UCLA, Tennessee State University and the California Institute of Technology will report in a December issue of the Astrophysical Journal, the premier journal of astronomy and astrophysics.
Comet dust reveals unexpected mixing of solar system
Chemical clues from a comet's halo are challenging common views about the history and evolution of the solar system and showing it may be more mixed-up than previously thought.
Phoenix Lander Sees, Feels Martian Whirlwinds in Action
(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has photographed several dust devils dancing across the arctic plain this week and sensed a dip in air pressure as one passed near the lander.
Cosmic connections: Scientist locates the origin of cosmic dust
(PhysOrg.com) -- The origin of the microscopic meteorites that make up cosmic dust has been revealed for the first time in new research out today (1 September 2008).
Ice Cold Sunrise on Mars
(PhysOrg.com) -- From the location of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, above the Martian arctic circle, the sun does not set during the peak of the Martian summer.
Preparation begins for new European space mission to Mars
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists searching for life on Mars are now preparing for the most in-depth probe of the Red Planet ever undertaken.
Phoenix Mars Lander Confirms Martian Water
(PhysOrg.com) -- Laboratory tests aboard NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander have identified water in a soil sample. The lander's robotic arm delivered the sample Wednesday to an instrument that identifies vapors produced by the heating of samples.

News discussion:

Space & Earth science news