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Toxic Moondust Bounces Like A Cannonball
Jotii writes "A new NASA article says that moondust fetched to Earth by Apollo 17 is now being studied. From the article: 'Zen-like, he studies the a single mote of dust suspended inside a basketball-sized vacuum chamber for as long as 10 to 12 days.' Moondust is apparently very static, and bounces like cannonballs. Another article from NASA emphasizes the dust's toxicity: 'In some ways, lunar dust resembles the silica dust on Earth that causes silicosis, a serious disease.'"
I'm totally sure the Apollo astronauts opened up their visors
They did once they got back into the LEM. There certainly was an issue with moon dust inside the spacecraft.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
TFA says the moondust is extremely statically charged, which if you've ever just combed your hair, you realize how much can stick to a comb with emmense strength.
Now think about a particle 1/20th the size of most earthbound stuff with a much stronger static charge. It's going to stick very, very tightly to whatever its on.
Besides, what's caught to the body of the suit isn't as much a deal as what was on the shoes, and they had covers, IIRC. Not to mention everyone was in quaranteen and extreme medical supervision after being returned to earth. I'd be more worried about living next to Dow chemical or drinking the Ohio river water than getting exposed to a little moon dust for a few days over twenty years ago.
"Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is." G.W.Bush
On the same NASA site, there's an article about the toxicity of moondust. It appears that because of its small particle size (10 microns), the moondust gets embedded into lungs, just like quartz used to do in the old mining days, causing silicosis.t inhale.htmn mower.htm
The astronauts did inhale some of the moondust, with effects similar to a hay fever.
Not only that, but the dust is statically charged because of the Sun and lack of humidity, so it will stick to just about anything, causing abrasion.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/22apr_don
There are plans to build a "microwave lunar lawn mower" that will melt the dust into something useful and stop it from bouncing.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/09nov_law
Now think about a particle 1/20th the size of most earthbound stuff with a much stronger static charge. It's going to stick very, very tightly to whatever its on.
Until it gets into the spacecraft, where the humidity will tend to dissipate the charge, allowing the dust to become airborne, as evidenced by the fact that the astronauts could smell it.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
actually, the dust got in through their boots aswell. Apparently the dust is so fine it can get through "air tight" spaces.
Not really; with perfectly elastic collisions is would bounce forever. The energy dissapates as heat and sound from friction against the surface, internal plastic deformation, and friction with the air. Similarly, an ideal pendulum will swing forever.
No one actually knows how the moon formed, the whole huge impact theory is still only a best guess.
If it was that theory that formed it then the moon will have been fairly molten at the time which is how it will have shaped itself in to a sphere as all large fluid masses do.
As for the dust. Lots of impacts + Total lack of water + No wind to even clear the dust in to dunes = Nice layer of dust across the whole surface. The actual layer of dust though is only a few centimeters deep and not really enough to highly compress it.
Personal accounts by a Civil War era soldier (my great grandfather) say that the cannon balls looked like softballs bouncing across the field. He said that you would think you could put your foot out and stop it, but if you did, you'd lose your leg.
Also, when the light is right, I've seen 22 bullets in flight. (22 Long Rifle) I was a doubter until someone showed me.
Of course, you know that a personal anecdote is bad logic, and thus bad science, since it is a well-known logical fallacy.
However, I think your great-grandfather's story is very compelling and really cool...and matches what I saw on that tv show...although I didn't see the ball itself though...just the dust hitting the ground...and it roughly looked like a softball bouncing across the field. Perhaps someone with better eyes could have seen it.
I also remember that the canon balls do slow down at the limit of their range...so, at that point, you could see it, if it was going slow enough! Or bouncing near you! I still think it would be a big blur though. At least to me.
Also, when the light is right, I've seen 22 bullets in flight. (22 Long Rifle) I was a doubter until someone showed me.
I've also heard that trained marksmen can see bullets in flight. Makes sense to me...that over a long distance, right behind a projectile, you might be able to see it in flight. I know that I have thought I have seen a projectile after shooting a rifle, but I chalk that up to my imagination.
The nice thing about science is that we do know for a fact that cannon balls bounce...we don't have to rely on our intuition or personal stories...we can go out and test the theory for ourselves.
Yeah, the very same space suits that have velcro fasteners and are known to vent gas. Yup, the very same.
After all, I am strangely colored.