Mapping and Modeling the Effects of Lunar Dust on Thermally Sensitive Surfaces for Heat Rejection Analysis

Dust and its affects on vehicle heat rejection is a major area of concern for a variety of planetary mission. Modeling and quantifying the affects of dust on thermally sensitive surfaces is a challenge due to the difficulty of mapping its location, density, and optical degradation affects without being overly broad and reductive. This paper details a modeling technique that was originally developed for Gateway docking events post lunar surface missions, but the principals can be applied in any analysis where an expected dust distribution on surfaces has been calculated. Previous analysis techniques assumed an average absorptivity degradation for large radiator surfaces. This is an unprecise assumption, as dust density can vary greatly across even a single panel. Also, using an average dust value for a vehicle section may be too conservative, as large dust deposits in a relatively small area can skew the overall degradation of a panel. This analysis technique offers a method of mapping dust onto surfaces in thermal desktop, calculating the dust affects on absorptivity and emissivity, and applying those affects for heat rejection analysis.