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After 4 Decades, Physicist Solves Mystery of Moon Dust

After decades of wondering, Aussie explains its stickiness

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Apr 23, 2009 8:26 AM CDT

(Newser) – Moon dust has been a “bloody nuisance” to NASA for decades, says a physicist: it sticks to spacesuits, clogs instruments, and could be a health risk for future colonists. Scientists believe the stickiness is due to a positive charge from the sun’s rays, NASA says. Now the physicist, 75 and retired, thinks he’s figured out the key to its behavior: the angle of the sun, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The angle of the sun as it hits the moon determines how sticky the stuff will be, Brian O’Brien says. The Earth's atmosphere prevents such trouble here. This information could be a big help to NASA, which wants to visit the moon again by 2020. O’Brien has been intrigued by moon dust since 1970, when he faulted it for messing with instruments Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin left on the moon.

In this July 20, 1969 file photo, Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin E. Buzz Aldrin, the first men to land on the moon, plant the US flag on the lunar surface.
In this July 20, 1969 file photo, Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin, the first men to land on the moon, plant the US flag on the lunar surface.   (AP Photo/NASA, File)
A physicist says he's figured out why moon dust is sticky.
A physicist says he's figured out why moon dust is sticky.   (Shutterstock)
Part of either Neil Armstrong or Buzz Aldrin's leg, foot, and footprint on the surface of the moon during the Apollo 11 lunar mission.
Part of either Neil Armstrong or Buzz Aldrin's leg, foot, and footprint on the surface of the moon during the Apollo 11 lunar mission.   (Getty Images)
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COMMENTS
Showing 2 of 2 comments
AClotfelter
Apr 23, 2009 4:09 AM CDT
wow, you sound like a nutjob...
Thinker
Apr 23, 2009 2:34 AM CDT
Right. Moon dust. Amazing how we could get to the moon 6 times in the 60s (or was it 7 times?) but other countries (including the US now) can't figure out the technology to do it until 2020?

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