Ive been a pondering....how do you clean off cosmic dust

[h0ughy (David)]

I am up to my eyeballs with work at the moment, trying to concentrate on a bucket list of Cycleway projects for design and funding feasibility when it struck me…..

How do you clean cosmic dust? We see great shots from the Hubble, the shuttle goes back and forth, we went to the moon (a looooong time ago), so how in the “vacuum of space” do you get rid of the interstellar dust that is everywhere from your space telescope optics/spacecraft windows that would be attracted to it over time?

I need a coke and some morning tea - should never have thought this one out loud LOL

[renormalised (Carl)]

With a "Space Chamois"

And, some canned air

[DavidU (Dave)]

I think the space in between these fine particals is quite large.
Also at the speed space craft are traveling they would become micro meteors.

[sheeny (Al)]

What's wrong with a "vacuum cleaner"?

(Groan at will...)

Al.

[h0ughy (David)]

Well it got me thinking becasue of a few of sidonio's and few other shots i did and have seen where dust is revealed in the images - got me to thinking how does it build up over time when travelling through it how much would be there and how would it affect your visability?

as for the response fellas - pretty lame, the spacecraft is called Dyson, and the canned air would be a once off item.

[Kal (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by sheeny

What's wrong with a "vacuum cleaner"?

(Groan at will...)

Al.

Nice Al, I'll pay that

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by h0ughy

Well it got me thinking becasue of a few of sidonio's and few other shots i did and have seen where dust is revealed in the images - got me to thinking how does it build up over time when travelling through it how much would be there and how would it affect your visability?

Over time the dust either winds up so dispersed we can't see it, or gravity draws it in to form new solar systems. That's where we come from - Sol is at least a 2nd generation star, otherwise we wouldn't have any heavy elements.

As for the traveling through it part of the question, Earth accumulates from space dust all the time - I seem to remember numbers like 30,000 tonnes per year. It eventually precipitates out. Space travelers should expect their windows and camera lenses to get abraded over time. They'll need to take lens makers to polish the glass.

[DavidU (Dave)]

NASA sent up a probe with Aerogel panes to study such dust impacts.
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/mis...&missionID=114

Hi res
http://discoverynewfrontiers.nasa.go...tInAerogel.jpg

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by DavidU

NASA sent up a probe with Aerogel panes to study such dust impacts.
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/mis...&missionID=114

Hi res
http://discoverynewfrontiers.nasa.go...tInAerogel.jpg

Once you get out of a planet's orbit the size and density of dust particles goes down. Once you've gone past the heliopause it should go down again, but the relative velocities probably go up.

Of course you could run into something big enough to go straight through the glass, and depressurisation would mean you won't have to worry about it any more.