HR: 16:45h
AN: SH54A-04 INVITED     [Abstracts]
TI: Dusty Plasma Effects on the surfaces of the Moon and Mars
AU: * Horanyi, M
EM: horanyi@colorado.edu
AF: LASP, U. of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309 United States
AU: * Horanyi, M
EM: horanyi@colorado.edu
AF: Department of Physics, U. of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309 United States
AU: Colwell, J E
EM: josh.colwell@lasp.colorado.edu
AF: LASP, U. of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309 United States
AU: Robertson, S H
EM: scott.robertson@colorado.edu
AF: Department of Physics, U. of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309 United States
AB: After a long break following the Apollo missions, the Moon is likely to become again the target of in situ investigations, serving as our gateway to land people on Mars. Although a layer of fine dust had been predicted for the moon, dust "storms" were not anticipated because of the absence of an atmosphere. The Lunar Ejecta and Meteorite (LEAM) experiment detectors deployed by Apollo 17 showed, unexpectedly, that most impacts were due to lunar dust levitated and transported electrostatically. There are significant technical challenges related to the mitigation of dust hazards for humans and instruments. For example, dust clinging to space suits became a nuisance for the astronauts returning to their habitats on the Moon. The surface of Mars represent a very different environment, where charging is likely to occur due to wind-entrained dust collisions, in addition to possible UV charging. These effects are likely to results in electrostatic discharges and possibly interfere with surface instrumentation and human activities. In this talk we will review our current theoretical models for dusty plasma effects on the Moon and Mars, and also summarize ongoing laboratory efforts to verify these models. These experiments address dust charging, electrostatic levitation and transport on the Moon, and also the possible electrification and discharges that might occur on Mars. We will conclude with a summary of the outstanding issues to be addressed by in situ measurements and the possible instrumentation for these investigations.
DE: 7514 Energetic particles (2114)
DE: 7554 X rays, gamma rays, and neutrinos
DE: 2152 Pickup ions
DE: 2164 Solar wind plasma
DE: 2411 Electric fields (2712)
SC: SPA-Solar and Heliospheric Physics [SH]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting