(153e) Electrostatic Screen for Transport of Martian and Lunar Regolith

The Martian and lunar regolith contain fine particulate, including that ranging from 0.5 to 200 µm. Martian dust can be transported and deposited by Aeolian processes, including ?dust devils.? Due to the ultrahigh vacuum (10 e?12 torr), transport of dust on the Moon is solely a result of collision/ballistic motion. Dust obscuration of solar cells is one of the primary factors limiting the duration of Martian missions, including the Mars Exploration Rovers, and dust contamination in vacuum seals is one of the primary factors that limited lunar excursions during the Apollo missions. Controlled transport of dust on Mars and the Moon is important for many reasons, including both contamination mitigation and in situ resource utilization (ISRU). Since both the monopole and dipole electrostatic moments result in nontrivial forces on particles in an electrostatic field, dust particles, whether charged or not, can be transported by electrostatic fields. In the electrostatic screen, alternating waveforms of voltage applied to patterned grids of electrodes will transport dust. The authors will show that the canonical methods for transporting dust via electrostatic screen can be readily applied to transport of Martian and lunar regolith. Experiments have been performed in ambient, low-humidity, Martian, and lunar conditions. Screen parameters such as grid spacing, trace width, grid voltage, pulse pattern, pulse frequency, and coating type have been examined for application to each regolith. The authors have also developed an electrostatic screen based on optically transparent conductors that can be placed over solar arrays, windows, visors, lenses, etc.