What 3D printed buildings might looks like on the Moon( NASA)
Over time, many of these particles became quite fine like the flour you bake with. That means they get everywhere! Have you ever gone to the beach and come home with sand in your clothes, bags, and even your parent’ s car? If that sand isn’ t removed, it is pretty uncomfortable! Well, astronauts’ spacesuits and lunar rovers also do not like regolith coating them. The sharp little particles can cause a lot of problems like wear and tear on the fabrics, joints, and hardware. Rover wheels can freeze up and stop working. If the technology is powered by solar panels and gets covered in lunar dust, they may not be able to charge the batteries.
When you are 239,000 miles away from the closest hardware store, that is a problem!
This is why testing here on Earth is so important. Engineers need to test their technologies down here before sending them all the way to the Moon, Mars, or other places in the solar system. They might use thermal vacuum chambers to test the temperature extremes and vacuum encountered on the Moon. Testing in simulated radiation and plasma from the sun and solar wind help ensure that everything is“ ruggedized” for when it leaves the protection of Earth’ s atmosphere.
To test for the harsh lunar regolith, engineers and scientists use something called simulant since there is not a lot of lunar regolith brought back to Earth. Lunar simulants recreate or simulate characteristics of the lunar soil. This can be the sharpness or particle size mentioned earlier or it might be the composition that it’ s made of. Lunar simulants can be used to test rover wheels, camera lenses, and spacesuit fabrics.
20 LET’ S GO AEROSPACE