A team of researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder has won a NASA prize that they will use to further develop their space technology that can remove and repel space dust.
The technology, called the Electron Beam Dust Mitigation system, uses electron beams to repel and remove space dust from surfaces, including spacesuits, solar panels, optical lenses and thermal blankets. The technology has demonstrated cleaning efficacy of up to 92% for those surfaces, and it could help mitigate dust hazards for space exploration, especially places like the Moon, which has lunar dust.
The team of researchers is part of CU Boulder’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics and founded a company called Space Dust Research & Technologies LLC. The company was one of 10 winners of NASA’s TechLeap Prizes in the Space Technology Payload Challenge. Their Electron Beam Dust Mitigation system was selected out of more than 200 applicants. The team will receive up to $500,000 and the opportunity to flight test their technology next summer.
“We are thrilled by the opportunity to build a flight-ready model of the Electron Beam Dust Mitigation technology to potentially benefit future lunar missions,” LASP researcher and company co-founder Xu Wang said in a release.
Dust mitigation is a major issue for NASA because it gets everywhere. Lunar dust, or dust on the moon, is extremely fine, abrasive and sharp, according to NASA, which makes it a bigger threat. The lunar dust, which is made from crushed rocks, can clog mechanisms, interfere with instruments, cause radiators to overheat and tear up spacesuits.
“EBDM has the potential to extend the life of rovers, landers, habitats, and other crucial assets on the lunar surface,” company co-founder and CU Boulder physics professor Mihaly Horanyi said in a release.
The goal of the NASA TechLeap Prize is to support future missions and reduce risk, according to its website. NASA wants to more quickly identify and develop technologies that could help solve critical space problems, such as lunar dust.