The Space.com website reported on Oct. 20 on a new material being developed for the astronauts of the planned Artemis mission to the Moon, and possibly any other future missions to the Moon or Mars. This new material is called “Liquid Metal Electrostatic Protective Textile” (or LiqMEST), and the “flexible, stretchable Moon fabric prototype is under development at Hawai’i Pacific University (HPU) and just got fueled by a $50,000 grant from NASA.”
“’When activated, it generates an electric field that repels lunar dust, preventing the dust from adhering,” stated Arif Rahman, an HPU assistant engineering professor who led the grant proposal. ‘This strategy can be applied both to spacesuits and fabric covers for lunar equipment during Moon missions.’”
The HPU website on Oct. 16 reported his comments: “During my research career, I have worked with liquid metals like gallium alloys, which have the unique capability to be turned on and off, allowing them to appear and disappear based on specific conditions. I am well-acquainted with these dynamic properties. So, when I learned that NASA has a problem with lunar dust sticking to the surfaces and posing a significant threat to the equipment and to the astronauts, it occurred to me that liquid metals might offer a potential avenue for developing an electrostatic or electrodynamic shield to mitigate these issues with lunar dust.”
