Delta-V: materials - Technology Review

Along with its Centaur booster, the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) was deliberately smashed into the moon on October 9, in a bid to detect water that might be present as ice in some of the permanently shadowed spots on the moon's surface. At the time, ground-based astronomers, both professional and amateur, were disappointed when the impact failed to produce a plume visible from Earth. However, NASA scientists analyzing the data returned from LCROSS announced today that large quantities of water have been detected.

The plume kicked up by the impact of a spent rocket
stage in a lunar crater as detected by the LCROSS
probe minutes before it too crashed into the Moon.
Picture courtesy NASA

The chosen impact site was in Cabeus crater, near the Moon's south pole. Preceding LCROSS on its suicide run by a few minutes was the spent Centaur rocket stage that boosted LCROSS toward the Moon (incidentally, the Centaur is one of the oldest and most reliable boosters in service, its basic design having first flown in 1963). Although too faint to see from Earth, when the Centaur crashed its plume was visible to LCROSS's camera and spectrographs. According to the scientists, water is the only material that matches the spectral analysis of the plume. They also detected the presence of other materials that have been collecting in Cabeus's shadows for billions of years, but these have not yet been identified.

How this data will play into the current policy debate over whether or not NASA should continue its plans to establish a base on the moon is unknown, but it does suggest that the Moon has at least a few surprises left in store.

NASA's Wanda Peters holds some material with the lotus
coating on it. Credit: NASA

NASA researchers are developing a plant-inspired material that could prevent dust from sticking to equipment on the moon.

Preventing dirt from covering equipment is essential on other planets. Apollo astronauts discovered this the hard way during their moonwalks--the highly abrasive lunar dust stuck easily to their spacesuits, jamming mechanical joints and restricting movement.

The new material is based on the lotus plant--known for repelling water--and is already used on windows, camera lenses, and eyeglasses. While there are lots of earth applications, the material will have to undergo heavy modifications to be able to endure the harsh environment of space.

NASA could use the material not just on spacesuits, but also on scientific equipment, solar panels, rovers, and other hardware. The team behind it, led by Wanda Peters at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD, is in the process of testing different formulas. "No one formula will meet all our needs," Peters said in the NASA press release. "For example, the coating that's applied to spacesuits needs to stick to a flexible surface, while a coating developed to protect moving parts needs to be exceptionally durable to resist wear and tear."

The commercial material is made from silica, zinc oxide, and other oxides. If you splash water on it, the water beads up and rolls off, just as it would roll off a lotus plant. (See previous TR articles on self-cleaning materials.) NASA researchers hope to add a biocide to the material to kill bacteria that produce foul odors wherever people are confined in a small space, like the space station or a future lunar outpost, for long periods. The agency is working with Northrop Grumman Electronics Systems, in Linthicum, MD, and nGimat Corporation, in Atlanta.

"We are modifying and testing the formula to ensure it can withstand all the challenges our hardware will encounter--extreme temperatures, ultraviolet radiation, solar wind, and electrostatic charging," said Peters. "We are also making sure it remains durable and cleanable in the space environment."

Bio

This blog focuses on the nuts-and-bolts of space technology. We're interested in the hardware that's actually going into orbit and beyond. We write about what's involved in building, launching, and operating spacecraft, exploration vehicles, and habitats (and what it takes on the ground to support them) today.

Delta-V is written by Stephen Cass, a senior editor at TR who has covered space technology and exploration for nine years, and Brittany Sauser, a space technology reporter at TR.

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