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Evaluation of Brushing as a Lunar Dust Mitigation Strategy for Thermal Control SurfacesEvaluation of brushing to remove lunar simulant dust from thermal control surfaces is described. First, strip brushes made with nylon, PTFE, or Thunderon (Nihon Sanmo Dyeing Company Ltd.) bristles were used to remove JSC-1AF dust from AZ93 thermal control paint or aluminized FEP (AlFEP) thermal control surface under ambient laboratory conditions. Nylon and PTFE bristles removed a promising amount of dust from AZ93, and nylon and Thunderon bristles from AlFEP. But when these were tested under simulated lunar conditions in the lunar dust adhesion bell jar (LDAB), they were not effective. In a third effort, seven brushes made up of three different materials, two different geometries, and different bristle lengths and thicknesses were tested under laboratory conditions against AZ93 and AlFEP. Two of these brushes, the Zephyr fiberglass fingerprint brush and the Escoda nylon fan brush, removed over 90 percent of the dust, and so were tested in the fourth effort in the LDAB. They also performed well under these conditions recovering 80 percent or more of the original thermal performance (solar absorptance/thermal emittance) of both AZ93 and AgFEP after 20 strokes, and 90 or more percent after 200 strokes
Document ID
20120000070
Acquisition Source
Glenn Research Center
Document Type
Technical Memorandum (TM)
Authors
Gaier, James R.
(NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Journey, Khrissaundra
(NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Christopher, Steven
(NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Davis, Shanon
(NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Date Acquired
August 25, 2013
Publication Date
December 1, 2011
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Report/Patent Number
NASA/TM-2011-217231
E-17806-1
AIAA Paper-2011-5182
Meeting Information
Meeting: 41st International Conference on Environmental Systems
Location: Portland, OR
Country: United States
Start Date: July 17, 2011
End Date: July 21, 2011
Sponsors: American Inst. of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Funding Number(s)
WBS: WBS 119103.04.05.18
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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