{"id":35071,"date":"2026-10-29T17:44:43","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T21:44:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/?p=35071"},"modified":"2026-10-29T15:21:38","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T19:21:38","slug":"washu-study-helps-martian-astronauts-prepare-for-dust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/2026\/10\/washu-study-helps-martian-astronauts-prepare-for-dust\/","title":{"rendered":"WashU study helps Martian astronauts prepare for dust"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tucked away among its sensors, cameras and navigation tools, NASA\u2019s Mars rover Perseverance i<\/strong>s wearing small swatches of spacesuit material. A rover doesn\u2019t need a spacesuit, but the swatches \u2014 each less than a square inch in size \u2014 serve an important purpose: They\u2019re helping scientists assess the potential damage caused by ubiquitous Martian dust.<\/p>\n

\u201cMars is a very dusty place,\u201d said\u00a0Scott VanBommel<\/a>, a research assistant professor of earth, environmental and planetary sciences in WashU Arts & Sciences<\/a>. \u201cAstronauts to Mars will have to be prepared.\u201d<\/p>\n

VanBommel is the lead author of a new paper in the\u00a0Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences<\/a> <\/em>that examines how dust interacts with Perseverance\u2019s spacesuit swatches and other materials, including Teflon. Co-authors include Abigail Knight, a staff scientist who helped conceptualize and conduct the analysis as a PhD student. Both researchers are also fellows of the\u00a0McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Planners of future Mars missions have good reason to plan around dust. On the Apollo missions, which were far shorter than any potential visit to Mars, lunar dust scratched visors and degraded spacesuits. When the astronauts returned to the lunar module, particles clinging to their suits contaminated the air and eventually entered their lungs, causing hay fever-like symptoms in some cases.<\/p>\n

The new study suggests Martian dust may not be quite as abrasive or irritating as its lunar counterpart. The swatches showed little visible wear after 1,645 Martian days, an encouraging finding for future visitors.<\/p>\n

Closer inspection revealed that particles on Mars were much smoother than the jagged grains found on the moon, suggesting they may be less likely to scratch equipment or irritate human lungs. \u201cThe particles in the Martian atmosphere have been blowing in the wind for potentially billions of years, so they tend to be well rounded, like pebbles in a river,\u201d VanBommel said.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s another problem: Martian dust can be exceptionally fine. VanBommel developed a method to estimate the size of each particle, some of which were ultrafine specks measuring as small as 100 nanometers (one ten-thousandth of a millimeter) across.<\/p>\n

On Earth, ultrafine particles from smoke and other forms of air pollution pose a significant health threat because they can penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream. Astronauts won\u2019t breathe the Martian atmosphere directly, but engineers will need to account for these microscopic hazards when designing habitats, spacesuits and air filters, VanBommel said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe electrostatic properties of Martian dust<\/strong> are likely causing it to preferentially adhere to some surfaces,\u201d Knight added.<\/p>\n

The data acquired by Perseverance\u2019s PIXL (Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry) instrument also enabled the researchers to analyze the particles\u2019 chemical composition. Unlike lunar dust, the material on Mars contains perchlorates and other potentially toxic compounds. It\u2019s also enriched in sulfur, iron and silica.<\/p>\n

Brief exposure to these substances may not seriously threaten astronauts\u2019 health; a lot comes down to dose and duration. Still, their presence adds another risk for mission planners to consider, VanBommel said.<\/p>\n

Perseverance and previous rovers have given researchers remarkable insights into the history and current conditions on Mars. But beyond their scientific discoveries, these missions also serve as real-world tests of technology that could one day support human exploration.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been operating rovers on the surface of Mars continuously for more than 20 years at this point,\u201d VanBommel said. \u201cWe know that dust will be a challenge, but it\u2019s something we can prepare for and overcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

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JOURNAL<\/h4>\n

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tucked away among its sensors, cameras and navigation tools, NASA\u2019s Mars rover Perseverance is wearing small swatches of spacesuit material. A rover doesn\u2019t need a spacesuit, but the swatches \u2014 each less than a square inch in size \u2014 serve an important purpose: They\u2019re helping scientists assess the potential damage caused by ubiquitous Martian dust.… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":35072,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"no","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"off","neve_meta_content_width":70,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1026,953,10,825,845,348],"tags":[1384,575,1271,1386,1385],"class_list":["post-35071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air","category-environment-2","category-health","category-science","category-space","category-technology-2","tag-bloodstream","tag-dust","tag-mars","tag-planet","tag-ultra-fine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35071"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35071\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35073,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35071\/revisions\/35073"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}