HPU Assistant Professor Arif Rahman (right) with HPU student Greg Ball (left) in an electrical engineering laboratory at HPU.
美国国家航空航天局's Artemis endeavor aims to make history in 2029 by landing the first woman and first person of color on the Moon, marking a phenomenal return to lunar exploration after over 50 years since 美国国家航空航天局’s last landing on the Moon. The Artemis endeavor signifies a substantial leap forward in space exploration, enabled by a host of new technology.
However, one persistent challenge 美国国家航空航天局 faces is lunar dust. 尽管听起来平淡无奇, lunar dust poses serious risks to both astronauts and the equipment on the lunar surface. 根据 美国国家航空航天局, lunar dust is composed of crushed rock, 这很好, 磨料, sharp dust can damage lunar landers, 吸入人体肺部, and interfere with instruments and mechanisms. Lunar dust even causes radiators to overheat and can destroy spacesuits. It also carries solar radiation on the sun-facing side of the Moon, 让它依附于一切, compounding its potential risks.
To address this challenge, 美国国家航空航天局 established the Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative (LSII) in 2019. The LSII aims to stimulate interest and innovation in novel technologies for lunar exploration, with lunar dust being one of the key problems it actively seeks to resolve for the benefit of future generations of space travel.
HPU Assistant Professor of Engineering Arif Rahman, Ph.D., could have the answer that 美国国家航空航天局 is seeking with his innovative grant proposal to utilize liquid metal to repel lunar dust.
A $50,000 grant was recently awarded to HPU by MUREP Partnership Annual Notification (MPLAN), providing Rahman with the funds to build a LiqMEST (Liquid Metal Electrostatic Protective Textile) fabric at HPU that will actively repel lunar dust on demand, while being flexible and stretchable, ensuring enhanced safety and functionality in lunar environments.
“在我的研究生涯中, I have worked with liquid metals like gallium alloys, which have the unique capability to be turned on and off, allowing them to appear and disappear based on specific conditions. I am well-acquainted with these dynamic properties,拉赫曼说。. “So, when I learned that 美国国家航空航天局 has a problem with lunar dust sticking to the surfaces and posing a significant threat to the equipment and to the astronauts, it occurred to me that liquid metals might offer a potential avenue for developing an electrostatic or electrodynamic shield to mitigate these issues with lunar dust.”
The LiqMEST technology used in the grant proposes that it will utilize electrostatic forces to repel lunar dust, serving as an outer layer for 美国国家航空航天局's spacesuits.
“The technology is designed to be stretchable, 当激活时, it generates an electric field that repels lunar dust, preventing the dust from adhering to the LiqMEST fabric. This strategy can be applied both to spacesuits and fabric covers for lunar equipment during moon missions,拉赫曼说。.
The HPU team working on the grant includes Rahman and engineering students. HPU engineering student Greg Ball was chosen first by Rahman to work on the grant with the goal to produce a prototype by the end of May 2024.
“When I read the opportunity to work with Professor Rahman I knew that I had to do this,” Ball said. “I knew I could not pass this opportunity up to work on this grant. I expect to graduate with my engineering degree in 2025, and it will be my second degree at HPU. The University is very supportive, 来自教授和工作人员, everyone at HPU is flexible and the education provided is excellent.”
Once Rahman successfully creates a prototype next year, he plans to submit a full grant proposal to 美国国家航空航天局 to create a LiqMEST product for 美国国家航空航天局 for the development of a LiqMEST product for space use. 这种技术, developed in the labs and classrooms of HPU, has potential applications in future 美国国家航空航天局 missions exploring extraterrestrial landscapes.
To learn more about the electrical engineering program at HPU, 点击这里.
