{"id":959160,"date":"2026-07-25T22:09:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T22:09:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/959160\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T22:09:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T22:09:17","slug":"nasa-is-preparing-astronauts-for-mars-dusty-hazards-wral-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/959160\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA is preparing astronauts for Mars\u2019 dusty hazards :: WRAL.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the most memorable scenes in The Martian\u00a0(2015) comes just minutes
\ninto the film, when a violent dust storm forces NASA astronauts to abandon their though to be lost crewmate. While author Andy Weir has noted that Mars\u2019 thin atmosphere couldn\u2019t produce that kind of force his creative license got
\none thing very right: Mars is an extraordinarily dusty world. <\/p>\n

That dust is expected
\nto be among the biggest hazards for astronauts, prompting NASA to establish its
\nfirst recommended exposure limits for airborne Martian dust as the agency
\nprepares for future human missions to the red planet.<\/p>\n

The new recommendation sets continuous exposure limits four times lower than lunar dust. The conservative threshold reflects not just the dangers already known but also what researchers still don\u2019t know about how prolonged exposure to Martian dust
\ncould affect the human body.<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"microscopicwithout wind and water to weather it, Moon dust has sharp jagged edges<\/p>\n

These concerns aren\u2019t theoretical. Apollo astronauts discovered
\nthat lunar dust behaved nothing like ordinary dirt. The fine, abrasive
\nparticles clung to spacesuits, worked their way into the Lunar Module and
\nirritated astronauts\u2019 eyes and airways after moonwalks. Apollo 17 astronaut
\nHarrison Schmitt described experiencing what he called \u201clunar hay fever.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than 50 years later, Apollo spacesuits preserved by the
\nSmithsonian\u2019s National Air and Space Museum still contain lunar dust embedded
\nin their fabric and seams.<\/p>\n

One approach to limiting astronaut exposure to lunar or Martian dust is
\nto leave it outside their living spaces.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"demonstrationattaching suits to rovers and habitats enables astronauts to explore the Moon and Mars while leaving harmful dust outside<\/p>\n

NASA has spent years developing \u201csuitports,\u201d which keep spacesuits
\nattached to the outside of a habitat or rover. Instead of bringing a dusty suit
\nindoors, astronauts climb into it through a hatch in the back, complete their
\nday\u2019s exploration, then dock the suit back onto the vehicle before reentering
\nthe habitat, helping keep dust out of the crew\u2019s living space.<\/p>\n

Moon dust, or lunar regolith, is made up of pulverized rock and
\nmineral fragments created over billions of years by meteorite impacts. Without
\nwind or water to weather the particles, they retain sharp, jagged edges that
\ncling to equipment and can irritate lungs and eyes<\/p>\n

When you think of Martian dust, don\u2019t think beach sand, think finer
\nthan baby powder, with particles about the size of those that make wildfire
\nsmoke hazardous to breathe. That allows the dust to remain suspended in the
\natmosphere and penetrate deep into the lungs. Unlike lunar regolith, Martian
\ndust also contains perchlorates, reactive salts that researchers are studying
\nfor their potential health effects during the months or years astronauts could
\nspend on the red planet.<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s robotic explorers have already shown how relentless Martian dust
\ncan be. The Opportunity rover survived nearly 15 years before a global dust
\nstorm in 2018 blocked enough sunlight to end the solar-powered mission.
\nInSight, the lander that recorded the first mars quakes, gradually lost power
\nas dust accumulated on its solar panels.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"MERaccumulated dust is clearly visible in this self portrait from NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity<\/p>\n

These exposure limits set up engineers to develop better filtration
\nsystems, dust-resistant materials, contamination controls and habitat designs
\nthat keep as much of the Martian environment as possible outside. They Martian
\ndust simulants in laboratories on Earth to refine those limits before the first
\nastronauts arrive.<\/p>\n

The work is already paying dividends closer to home. Building on decades
\nof life support and air filtration experience aboard the International Space
\nStation, engineers have developed air quality sensors to monitor fine lunar
\ndust inside future lunar habitats for the Artemis program. Adapted for use on
\nEarth, the same technology is now helping track air pollution, wildfire smoke
\nand industrial emissions. <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the most memorable scenes in The Martian\u00a0(2015) comes just minutes into the film, when a violent…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":959161,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[24],"tags":[12986,3091,916,159,783,67,132,68,162586],"class_list":["post-959160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-air-quality","tag-mars","tag-nasa","tag-science","tag-space","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-wral-specialists"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116982904924829621","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/959160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=959160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/959160\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/959161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=959160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=959160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=959160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}