Flexible Lunar Robotics/Rover Dust Mitigation Covers

One of the greatest challenges to conducting long-duration missions on the lunar or Mars surfaces is the effect of dust on mechanisms and mobility systems. The addition of covers to shield lunar dust was suggested on early Apollo missions, and the benefits were experienced on later missions when localized covers on some equipment were implemented. Moonprint Solutions will develop scalable and adaptable flexible hermetically sealed dust cover technologies that are broadly applicable to a range of uses on the lunar or Mars surface. This includes rotary, linear, and ball joints, as well as entire assemblies of rovers and robotics. Dust cover technology will be a part of a layered strategy where dust mitigation technologies compliment one another for maximum protection. Several innovations will be employed including polymeric materials that can survive repeated long-term cycling in lunar dust, flexing while at cryogenic temperatures (-213C), multi-layered cover designs for redundancy, and mobility joints in the cover that do not add torque to the robot or impede its mobility in any way. Several methods of attaching and sealing the covers to various robotic elements will be developed. The covers will be designed to keep dust out of sensitive mechanisms but could also be used to enhance thermal control, contain contamination sources for planetary protection, or to prevent offgassing from robotics that can affect sensitive equipment.