Spotlight: Edward Garboczi and Ann Chiaramonti Debay Analyzed 14,000 Moon Dust Particles

On July 20, 1969, almost immediately after he’d landed on the Moon, Neil Armstrong scooped up a sample of lunar dust and dumped it into a Teflon bag. Over 50 years later, NIST scientists have succeeded in creating the most detailed, three-dimensional models ever of these bits of dust, an achievement that could aid plans to return to the Moon and even help start a space colony there.

In all, NIST researchers Edward Garboczi and Ann Chiaramonti Debay analyzed 14,000 lunar dust particles collected during Armstrong’s Apollo 11 mission and 1971’s follow-up Apollo 14 mission. The particles ranged in size from 0.5 micrometers to 50 micrometers — no bigger than the thickness of a human hair.

Credit: NIST

Credit: NIST

Moon dust forms when small and large meteorites strike the Moon’s surface, pulverizing the rocks and fusing bits and pieces of the debris together. Unlike dust on Earth, Moon dust isn’t worn smooth by wind and water over the years. Instead, the particles are sharp and spiky, like tiny shards of glass.

To analyze and measure the dust, NIST researchers used high-tech methods such as X-ray computed tomography and scanning electron microscopy. However, they also had to resort to some low-tech methods.

To X-ray the dust, each particle needed to be isolated and unmoving. The researchers added the dust to a small amount of epoxy and spread the mixture on the outside of a round cocktail straw. While the X-rays went right through the glue and the straw, they bounced off the dust, enabling the researchers to map the particle’s contours and dimensions.

Credit: NIST

Credit: NIST

Having such precise models of lunar dust will enable NASA and private space exploration companies to create more accurate simulations of the Moon’s surface. They can also use NIST’s data to develop ways to build structures out of the dust that could one day become part of a lunar colony.

“We now have ground truth for what lunar dust really looks like,” said Chiaramonti Debay. “Anyone who wants to use lunar dust in some way now has a way of verifying their models.”