The Chemical Reactivity of Lunar Dust: From Toxicity to Astrobiology

The chemical reactivity of lunar dust is an important topic of inquiry, of fundamental scientific value and of practical relevance to human exploration of the Moon. Lunar specimens brought back to Earth by the Apollo astronauts provide a key resource for ground-based studies which help to define the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Earth, moon, and planets moon, and planets, 2010-12, Vol.107 (1), p.95-105
Main Authors: Loftus, D. J., Rask, J. C., McCrossin, C. G., Tranfield, E. M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Astrobiology
Astronauts
Astronomy
Astrophysics and Astroparticles
Chemical reactions
Dust
Heterogeneity
Lunar dust
Lunar eclipses
Lunar exploration
Lunar surface
Moon
Observations and Techniques
Organic chemistry
Physics
Physics and Astronomy
Planetology
Reactivity
Remote sensing
Space Exploration and Astronautics
Space Sciences (including Extraterrestrial Physics
Toxicity
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Summary:The chemical reactivity of lunar dust is an important topic of inquiry, of fundamental scientific value and of practical relevance to human exploration of the Moon. Lunar specimens brought back to Earth by the Apollo astronauts provide a key resource for ground-based studies which help to define the initial avenues of inquiry. Even among the limited samples obtained from equatorial exploration sites, however, chemical reactivity analyses indicates that lunar dust is heterogeneous, a finding that parallels heterogeneity revealed by remote sensing studies. The region-to-region variability of lunar dust argues that a full understanding of its chemical reactivity will require in situ analysis, on a region-to-region basis. The data from such investigations will help to shape our understanding of the potential for lunar dust toxicity, and will provide insight into the types of reactions that may occur with when lunar dust interacts with organic molecules on the surface of the Moon.
ISSN:0167-9295
1573-0794
DOI:10.1007/s11038-010-9376-x