Lunar Dust: A Comprehensive Review of Lunar Surface Properties and Simulations to Facilitate Technology Development and Mission Planning

Lunar dust poses a major risk to crew and system safety and performance. As we look towards the Artemis missions and longer surface stays, the development of robust and reliable technologies for lunar surface missions becomes critical. The Apollo missions enabled a greater understanding of the lunar surface properties at near-equatorial illuminated regions, resulting in the development of dust mitigation technologies and protocols. Despite these advancements, lunar dust has remained a major problem. To design technologies and protocols to mitigate the “lunar dust problem,” the properties of lunar dust at future mission sites must be thoroughly understood. The insulative nature of lunar regolith and direct interaction with the plasma environment surrounding the Moon causes regions to charge to a site-specific electrostatic potential, which is affected by topography, illumination conditions, environmental variations (lunar orbital location, solar wind changes), and local regolith properties. Furthermore, the lunar lander will induce plume-surface interactions during descent and landing operations, affecting the local topography through cratering and subsequently altering the illumination conditions at the landing site. Conductive surface assets, such as the lander, thermal radiators, and solar panels, may also alter the near-surface electric fields. The high level of uncertainty in the electromagnetic environment characterization renders the prediction of regolith charging and dust dynamics extremely challenging. In this article, we present a comprehensive description of lunar surface properties and simulations, along with a summary of current dust mitigation strategies, to facilitate technology development and mission planning.