International scientific and commercial interests in exploration missions to solar system bodies such as the Moon, asteroids and comets have increased significantly during the last two decades (e.g. SMART-1, SELENE, LADEE, Chang'e series, Chandrayaan’ series, and Rosetta). Several exploration missions, with and without European contributions, such as the Artemis programme (NASA), are ongoing or planned in the near future. One major environmental constraint during exploration missions is the presence of charged dust-like particles, which are present on the Moon, Mars, comets and asteroids. From an analysis of the effects of lunar dust on Extra-Vehicular Activity systems during the six Apollo missions that landed on the lunar surface, it was found that these effects can take many forms such as dust coating and contamination, thermal control problems and seal failures. One of the most serious effects is the compromising of astronaut health by irritation and inhalation of lunar dust. An example of dust contamination on astronaut’s spacesuit is shown in the attached figure.
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 overall objective of the DUSTER project is to develop the instrumentation and technologies to study dust particles and electrostatic transportation for planetary and small body exploration missions. Specifically, the aim is to design, manufacture and test in a controlled environment a compact multi-sensor instrument for in situ analysis of dust particles. The goal is to propose, after the completion of the project, to include this instrument for a future lunar mission.
Since the behaviour of the dust particles is driven not only by their physical characteristics but also by the surrounding environment, the developed instrument includes sensors to monitor the lunar environment: plasma properties and local electric field. Therefore, the instrument comprises:
- A dust sensor: to attract dust particles and measure their electrical charge and velocity.
- A Langmuir probe to monitor the ambient plasma environment,
- An electric Field (E-field) probe to measure the E-field above the dust surface.
