Article: Moondust, Radiation, and Low Gravity: The Health Risks of Living on the Moon

[gary]

One of my favourite Apollo-era photographs is that of Apollo 17 astronaut,
Eugene Cernan (see below). Having come back inside the LM after an EVA,
he looks tired and having doffed his space suit, he and his space suit and
thermal undergarment are covered in black moondust. He looks as dirty as
a coal miner.

Neil Armstrong described the smell of the dust as, "like wet ashes in a fireplace."

However, in a 27 Jun 2019 article in the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Spectrum magazine, Elie Dolgin writes about
the physiological hazards lunar dust presents when humanity returns
to the Moon.

Originally Posted by Elie Dolgin, IEEE

Caked in the stuff, the astronauts inadvertently tracked the toxic dust into their spacecraft and even back down to Earth upon landing.

These NASA astronauts complained of a “lunar hay fever” that irritated their eyes, lungs, and nostrils. A doctor who helped the Apollo 11 crew members emerge from their dust-scattered space module following its ocean splashdown experienced allergic reactions of his own. “Dust is probably one of our greatest inhibitors to a nominal operation on the moon,” Apollo 17 astronaut Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon, said during a postflight debriefing. “I think we can overcome other physiological or physical or mechanical problems, except dust.”

Originally Posted by Elie Dolgin, IEEE

Last year, an interdisciplinary team from Stony Brook University, in New York, exposed human lung cells and mouse brain cells to dust samples that resemble the regolith found in the lunar highlands and on the moon’s volcanic plains. Compared with less-reactive particulate materials, the toxic dust caused more genetic mutations and cell death, raising the specter of moondust triggering neurodegeneration and cancer in future lunar explorers. “The DNA is being damaged, so there is a risk of those types of things happening,” says Rachel Caston, a molecular biologist who led the research. (She’s now at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis.)

But will the same damage happen inside the human body? And if so, would ensuring the safety of future moon settlers require the equivalent of a mudroom, an expensive and logistically challenging piece of equipment to haul over to our celestial neighbor? And just how clean would that mudroom have to be to keep astronauts safe?

“We just don’t know, and therein lies the current conundrum,” says Kim Prisk, a pulmonary physiologist at the University of California, San Diego. “Is this just a nuisance dust, or something potentially very toxic?”

None of the Apollo astronauts suffered any long-term ill effects from dust exposure, only acute respiratory problems—which suggests the lunar schmutz might not be too nasty. But the longest stay on the moon so far was the Apollo 17 astronauts’ 75-hour mission, the equivalent of a long weekend getaway.

As Dolgin points out, of even bigger concern is exposure to cosmic rays
which can damage organs such as the gastrointestinal tract, heart and brain.

Article here :-
https://spectrum.ieee.org/aerospace/...ng-on-the-moon

[cannon_gray (Cannon Gray)]

All of this suggests that lunar base builders and spacesuit designers need to focus on creating systems that would prevent dust from entering living quarters.

[glend (Glen)]

Certainly solvable. At least Moon based personnel can easily return to Earth, unlike those going to Mars. Dust scrubbers, entry foyer pressure traps to accommodation, etc already exist. Radiation can be monitored and proximity allows crew rotation. Subsurface accommodation and shielding may extend periods of residence.