This paper seeks to review the understanding of the forces acting on dust particles, how these affect their behaviour, how we can measure and quantify these, and what the consequences are especially if we are trying to run real-world simulations in different gravity and fluid fields or absence thereof (e.g. Earth atmosphere, Earth vacuum, Lunar exosphere).
Specifically, forces due to...
Lunar dust poses a critical challenge for surface missions due to its abrasiveness, electrostatic adherence and fine particulate nature. SolSys Mining will contribute to ESA’s Planetary Dust Contamination Workshop 2025 by presenting LuNOR, a European lunar simulant—available in both mare and highlands variants, with dedicated dust simulant formulations forthcoming in 2026. Produced from raw...
Title: Sensing and Modelling Planetary Dust Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) and their Effects on Space Missions by High-Fidelity ROS-Activated Dust Simulants
Christos D. Georgiou M.Sc., Ph.D.1 and Elias Chatzitheodoridis M.Sc., Ph.D.2
1,2 Co-Chiefs of Science & Technology Innovations & Operations, Stellar Discoveries, Greece
1 Oral presentation
Abstract
Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS:...
Metal asteroids are a topic of increasing interest within both the public and private space sectors, as the in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) and asteroid mining communities continue to develop. As 16 Psyche is the largest known M-class asteroid in the main asteroid belt, it can be considered a prime target for further investigation. Despite this heightened level of interest, many...
Presentation of the to-be-commissioned ESTEC vacuum dust adhesion facility.
The Virtual Formulation Laboratory (VFL) is a computational tool (based on empirical modelling) developed to simulate and optimise the behaviour of complex particulate systems. While initially designed for bulk solids handling in terrestrial manufacturing, the technology offers a framework for modelling and analysing lunar regolith simulants, addressing critical challenges in extra-terrestrial...
The Vulcan Facility was created by the NHM in London as a contract deliverable for ESA [1][2][3]. It is now located at ESA’s UK site and houses a collection of Lunar, Martian, and asteroid analogue samples (or ‘simulants’) and benchtop analytical equipment for fundamental properties characterisation. Feedstock materials are also available for design and production of new simulants.
The...
An overview of the LUNA analogue testing facility in Cologne
One major environmental constraint during exploration missions is the presence of charged dust-like particles. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to characterise the properties of the dust particles present on the exploration sites and their transportation mechanisms to enable efficient mitigation techniques to be put in place. The main objective of the DUSTER (Dust Study, Transport, and...
The Moon's surface regolith has endured billions of years of space weathering, including solar wind and UV/cosmic ray bombardment, resulting in a highly charged surface. Some of this charging is permanent due to the embedded solar wind ions in the crystal structures of the Moon's exposed surface minerals. Given the low gravity environment, the inability to discharge due to dry and vacuum...
The key to dealing with dust contamination lies in understanding its adhesive behaviour. It is currently unclear which of several adhesion forces (namely electrostatic and van der Waals forces) would dominate for the different particle sizes present on the Moon. The complex radiative environment under ultra-high vacuum as well as the high variation in shape, composition, and size of the...
It is well known from the apollo era that lunar dust is a great challenge for lunar surface operations and must be addressed to achieve sustained human presence on the moon. Lunar Dust can cause many potential problems for surface missions and space equipment so minimising dust contamination, understanding the potential effects, and having effective dust mitigation techniques are essential for...
Planetary dust particles are a severe threat to different sensitive surfaces of landers and rovers. The success of future missions requires tools for modelling such environments. Technical challenges are linked to accurately model major factors influencing the contamination transport: reconstruction of the plume flow field, regolith erosion, electrostatics, and particle-surface...
Lunar regolith poses one of the main risks and challenges to any lunar surface mission due to the abrasion nature of particles on the Moon, the extreme environment, and the uncertain particle properties. While efforts to gain a deeper understanding of the fundamental properties of regolith particles increased in the past, tests still focused mainly on low-fidelity tests. With the increased...
Within the frame of future lunar missions, the evaluation of the change in the performance of representative covering materials is required to estimate the effect of particulate contamination induced by the dust coverage over time (natural or man-induced).
This paper reports on the existing large set of data on the effect of LHS-1 & LHS1-25A deposits (LDS from Space Ressource Technologies)...
Modification of thermal control surfaces is still a big uncertainty for lunar surface missions. For thermal engineers, changes in thermo-optical properties over mission lifetime can be crucial for thermal design feasibility. Literature from measurement campaigns shows a significant increase especially of radiator coatings’ solar absorptivity. The shortcoming of legacy measurements is their...
Both in manned and robotic exploration the crew protection and reduction of material degradation are key aspects in lunar (or Mars) surface applications. One of the main risks is caused by the exposal and interaction with lunar regolith and dust. Due to its irregular shape and sharp edges, lunar dust is highly abrasive and poses a substantial risk for joints and moving parts. The DEAR project...
Abrasive, electrostatically charged lunar regolith threatens every surface that humans, robots, rovers, and habitats interact with, from sealing gaskets to the mucous membranes of astronauts (NASA Science). Current engineering responses largely treat dust as a passive contaminant, yet long‑duration stays will demand materials that actively interact dynamically with their users and...
Within the context of lunar dust mitigation technologies, increasing attention is being directed toward the design and development of high-performance polymers that combine exceptional thermo-mechanical properties with enhanced abhesion, i.e., non-sticking ability when in contact with micrometric dust particles of lunar regolith. These materials represent a promising, reliable, energy-saving...
Both in manned and robotic exploration, crew protection and the reduction of material degradation are key aspects of lunar and Martian surface exploration. One of the main risks arises from exposure to and interaction with lunar regolith and dust. In addition to preventing the accumulation of harsh, sharp-edged particles, the CHARON project’s "cleaning hardware recovery operations" will focus...
The possibility of future lunar exploration missions is threatened by the risk that lunar regolith poses to the durability and performance of equipment, as well as to the health of those carrying out activities in the lunar environment. A clear gap in knowledge exists between these challenges and the efficiency of current mitigation technologies. Thus, it is paramount that these technologies...
In the frame of the OSIP activity "Lunar Regolith Ineractions with Environments and Robotic Systems", the efficiency of an EDS system embedded in glass and Kapton samples was successfully tested in vacuum under UV irradiation, across a variety of simulants. The results of this test campaign will be presented.
Both in manned and robotic exploration the crew protection and reduction of material degradation are key aspects in lunar (or Mars) surface applications. One of the main risks is caused by the exposal and interaction with lunar regolith and dust. Whereas the CHARON project (dedicated presentation) is focusing on the removal of dust from complex structures the DEAR project focus on the...
As humanity ventures towards prolonged lunar habitation and exploration, the management of lunar dust contamination within manned modules emerges as a critical concern. Lunar dust, characterized by its abrasive nature and electrostatic properties, poses multifaceted challenges to both human health and equipment integrity. This paper explores the strategy and challenges associated with...
Both in manned and robotic exploration the crew protection and reduction of material degradation are key aspects in lunar (or Mars) surface applications. One of the main risks is caused by the exposal and interaction with lunar regolith and dust. Whereas the DEAR project focus on the contamination caused performance risks studies (dedicated presentation) the DuReCo project is investigating...
LOADER (Lifting and Offloading Add-on Device for EL3/Argonaut Resources) is a concept-stage electro-mechanical system designed to support the European Large Logistics Lander, Argonaut, by enabling the autonomous deployment of scientific payloads and surface infrastructure on the lunar surface. The LOADER concept addresses a key operational challenge for future lunar missions: the safe and...
The rapid expansion of space exploration demands novel and disruptive technologies. Among the most critical advancements for enabling sustained lunar missions are nuclear-based power systems. A primary objective is to generate reliable energy for scientific payloads, rovers, and power stations on the lunar surface, where solar power alone is insufficient. Power systems for space nuclear...
Dust is challenging in every planetary environment, especially for projects with high reliability and uptime requirements. This includes most lunar and Martian planetary missions as well as specific terrestrial missions, for example, helicopters.
The presence of dust causes accelerated degradation and a consequent reduction in the efficiency and lifetime of affected vehicles. This can, for...
.The origin of the moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, has long been debated. The two leading theories are that they are either captured asteroids or the result of ejected material from a giant impactor. The upcoming JAXA mission Mars Moons eXplorer (MMX) aims to clarify key unknowns regarding the composition, minerology and surface structure, and thus help to unravel the mystery of the origin...
