Laboratory Investigations of Charging/Arcing Risks for Astronauts on Lunar Surface

摘要

We present an initial laboratory study of astronaut charging on the lunar surface. First, a laboratory experiment is carried out to study "astronaut arm" charging under a multibody-plasma interaction situation. The results showed that significantly greater differential charging occurs on an astronaut's arm when it is in close proximity to a dusty surface. Depending on the length of the astronaut's arm and the distance between the arm and the surface, breakdown or arcing may become a significant concern. Next, a laboratory study is carried out to study possible electric discharge/arcing on spacesuit material Gore-Tex. We find that a clean Gore-Tex surface is generally discharge resistant. However, once dust grains are presented, substantial discharge will occur if the surface voltage is sufficiently high. These experimental results suggest that charging will pose a serious risk to astronauts at the lunar terminator or lunar far-side due to the combined effects of dust coverage and high voltage charging.