A while back, I referenced a story about moondust smelling like gunpowder. Now, it seems, moondust has magnetic properties as well. Each tiny grain of dust contains a few iron particles. The iron’s magnetic properties allow the smallest dust particles to be swept up by magnets. This is a key discovery for NASA engineers who want to return manned expeditions to the lunar surface where dust has plagued the seals of space suits and contaminated mineral samples and just about everything else. Even astronaut Gene Cernan was a moondust mess after a surface excursion (see picture).
April 4, 2006: Thirty-plus years ago on the moon, Apollo astronauts made an important discovery: Moondust can be a major nuisance. The fine powdery grit was everywhere and had a curious way of getting into things. Moondust plugged bolt holes, fouled tools, coated astronauts’ visors and abraded their gloves. Very often while working on the surface, they had to stop what they were doing to clean their cameras and equipment using large–and mostly ineffective–brushes.
Dealing with “the dust problem” is going to be a priority for the next generation of NASA explorers. But how? Professor Larry Taylor, director of the Planetary Geosciences Institute at the University of Tennessee, believes he has an answer: “Magnets.”
A Russian communications satellite appears to have been struck by “a sudden external impact”. Its operators say the extent of the damage caused means the satellite will be sent into “space disposal orbit”.
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Spirit continued to make progress toward “McCool Hill” despite a reduction in solar energy and problems with the right front wheel. The team plans to have the rover spend the winter on the hill’s north-facing slopes, where the tilt toward the sun would help maximize daily output by the solar panels. On Spirit’s 779th sol, or Martian day (March 13, 2006), the drive actuator on the right front wheel stalled during a turn to adjust the position of the rover’s antennas. The stall ended the day’s drive, which brought Spirit 29 meters (95 feet) closer to McCool, still approximately 120 meters (390 feet) away.
Replacing the Joint Unmanned Combat Air System –consisting so far of two Boeing X-45A prototype smart aircraft and a Northrop Grumman X-47A demonstrator –with a longer range unmanned aircraft will save $158 million next year.
SUITSAT IS SILENT: Space is cold–apparently too cold for SuitSat’s batteries. The Earth-orbiting spacesuit stopped transmitting shortly after it was thrown overboard from the International Space Station on Feb. 3rd. Probable cause: lack of power.