Why is the Moon dusty [
http://www.lpi.usra…A17_Experiments_SMI. html ]? On Earth, rocks are weathered by wind and water, creating soil and sand. On the Moon [
http://www.nineplan…], the long history of micrometeorite [
http://www.solarvie…micromet.htm ] bombardment has blasted away at the rocky surface [
http://www-curator.…lunar.htm ] creating a layer of powdery lunar soil or regolith [
http://epsc.wustl.e…regolith_breccia.htm l ]. This lunar regolith could be a scientific and industrial [
http://www.asi.org/…regolith-volatiles.h tml ] bonanza. But for the Apollo astronauts and their equipment [
http://www.lpi.usra…A17_science.html ], the pervasive, fine, gritty dust was definitely a problem. On the lunar surface [
http://www.hq.nasa.…] in December 1972, Apollo 17 [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] astronauts Harrison Schmitt and Eugene Cernan needed to repair one of their lunar rover's fenders in an effort [
http://www.hq.nasa.…a17/a17.eva2prep.htm l ] to keep the "rooster tails" of dust away from themselves and their gear. This picture reveals the wheel and fender of their dust covered rover along with [
http://www.clavius.…] the ingenious application of spare maps, clamps, and a grey strip of "duct tape".
Explanation
Why is the Moon dusty [
http://www.lpi.usra…A17_Experiments_SMI. html ]? On Earth, rocks are weathered by wind and water, creating soil and sand. On the Moon [
http://www.nineplan…], the long history of micrometeorite [
http://www.solarvie…micromet.htm ] bombardment has blasted away at the rocky surface [
http://www-curator.…lunar.htm ] creating a layer of powdery lunar soil or regolith [
http://epsc.wustl.e…regolith_breccia.htm l ]. This lunar regolith could be a scientific and industrial [
http://www.asi.org/…regolith-volatiles.h tml ] bonanza. But for the Apollo astronauts and their equipment [
http://www.lpi.usra…A17_science.html ], the pervasive, fine, gritty dust was definitely a problem. On the lunar surface [
http://www.hq.nasa.…] in December 1972, Apollo 17 [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] astronauts Harrison Schmitt and Eugene Cernan needed to repair one of their lunar rover's fenders in an effort [
http://www.hq.nasa.…a17/a17.eva2prep.htm l ] to keep the "rooster tails" of dust away from themselves and their gear. This picture reveals the wheel and fender of their dust covered rover along with [
http://www.clavius.…] the ingenious application of spare maps, clamps, and a grey strip of "duct tape".
Explanation
