NASA’s InSight lander succumbed to the intense Martian dust storms, but if it had this new dust-resistant technology developed by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin, that would be a thing of the past. UT at Austin partnered with Smart Material Solutions Inc. to develop a new method to keep dust from sticking to surfaces, whether it be solar panels or household windows.
To test this innovative technology, the researchers placed lunar dust atop of their engineered surfaces and then turned each one on its side. They discovered that only 2% of the surface remained dusty, compared with more than 35% of a similar, yet smooth surface. Put simply, the sharp, angular structures make it difficult for the dust particles to stick to the material, resulting it rolling off the material via gravity. Most importantly, these are passive structures, so they don’t require any external power source or materials to remove the dust.
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There’s not much you can do about lunar dust in space – it sticks to everything and there’s no real way to wipe it off or spray it off. Dust on solar panels of Mars rovers can cause them to fail,” said Samuel Lee, a lead author of the study.
