{"id":16625,"date":"2026-10-26T20:02:49","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T00:02:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zobi.alcowep.com\/bourtagshdrevxnls658739\/nasas-perseverance-offers-clues-to-protect-crews-from-mars-dust\/"},"modified":"2026-10-26T20:02:49","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T00:02:49","slug":"nasas-perseverance-offers-clues-to-protect-crews-from-mars-dust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zobi.alcowep.com\/bourtagshdrevxnls658739\/nasas-perseverance-offers-clues-to-protect-crews-from-mars-dust\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Perseverance Offers Clues to Protect Crews From Mars Dust"},"content":{"rendered":"

NASA\u2019s Perseverance Offers Clues to Protect Crews From Mars Dust<\/h2>\n

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6 min read<\/p>\n

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"A<\/a><\/figure>
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This 360-degree panorama from NASA\u2019s Perseverance Mars rover shows Neretva Vallis, the dusty, long-dried river channel that cuts through the western rim of Mars\u2019 Jezero Crater.<\/div>\n
NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/ASU\/MSSS<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Over 1,645 Martian days, NASA\u2019s Perseverance Mars rover measured the fine and ultrafine Martian dust particles found clinging to samples of spacesuit materials that are carried aboard the rover, including some that are small enough to penetrate the lungs and enter the bloodstream. The findings will be published Tuesday, Oct. 27, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and could inform spacesuit and habitat design, dust-removal procedures, and crew health standards for future NASA missions to Mars.<\/p>\n

\u201cNASA has a long history of turning challenges into workable solutions and of finding creative ways to use the data that we have to answer questions beyond what it was originally collected for,\u201d said Lindsay Hays, acting director, Planetary Science Division, NASA Headquarters in Washington. \u201cDust has been a surface-exploration challenge since the Apollo program. Perseverance is giving our engineers and flight surgeons measurements they can use to improve our existing designs well before the first American astronauts arrive on Mars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lunar dust scratched visors, degraded outer spacesuit layers, and damaged their seals during NASA\u2019s Apollo missions, and some crew members reported symptoms similar to hay fever.<\/p>\n

Rounded by wind-driven collisions with other particles, dust grains on Mars are less abrasive than those on the Moon. They also are enriched in sulfur, chlorine, and iron and contain more silica than lunar dust. Regional and global dust storms on Mars can keep the grains recirculating throughout the atmosphere as well. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The rover carries a set of five samples of spacesuit material. The swatches<\/a>, each three-quarters of an inch (20 millimeters) square, are part of a calibration target<\/a> used to test the settings of SHERLOC<\/a> (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals), an instrument on Perseverance\u2019s robotic arm. The calibration target for another instrument that provided the dust measurements, called PIXL<\/a> (Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry), carries a sample of Teflon and of basaltic glass.<\/p>\n

Because Teflon contains no elements that PIXL can directly detect, whatever elemental signals the X-ray spectrometer picks up from that sample comes from dust resting on it.<\/p>\n

The team also analyzed swatches of Teflon and Vectran, two materials used in spacesuits, on SHERLOC\u2019s calibration target. NASA sent the swatches to Mars to study how spacesuit materials hold up on the planet\u2019s surface.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerseverance\u2019s main job is to search for signs of ancient microbial life, but the mission was also designed to help prepare for human explorers. That effort includes technology demonstrations like MOXIE<\/a> (Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment) and Ingenuity<\/a>, as well as the spacesuit samples,\u201d said Katie Stack Morgan, Perseverance\u2019s project scientist at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.<\/p>\n

Fine, ultrafine<\/strong><\/h2>\n

While earlier measurements on Mars resolved dust particles down to about 3 micrometers across, PIXL detected two categories of even smaller particles: fine particles measuring less than 2.5 micrometers (a human hair is about 70 micrometers wide) and ultrafine particles around 100 nanometers (about 700 times thinner than a human hair). Particles on PIXL\u2019s Teflon target and SHERLOC\u2019s Vectran swatch averaged about 2 micrometers. On PIXL\u2019s basaltic glass and SHERLOC\u2019s Teflon swatch, dust particle sizes ranged down to about 100 to 300 nanometers.<\/p>\n

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\"A<\/a><\/figure>
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This annotated composite image shows the location on NASA\u2019s Perseverance of the calibration target for rover\u2019s SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals) instrument. At right is a close-up of the calibration target. <\/div>\n
NASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Static electricity appears to determine which size dust particles stick to which surface. Dust grains become charged as they collide in the air, and different materials on the calibration target attract grains of different sizes. The finest particles stayed attached through years of driving and drilling. Organic polymers like SHERLOC\u2019s Teflon spacesuit sample are common in the outer layers of spacesuits, and the results show they readily collect fine dust.<\/p>\n

The study also found that some materials hold less dust than others, which could guide future choices of materials and protective coatings for spacesuits and habitats. Designs such as suitports<\/a>, which let astronauts enter a suit attached to the outside of a habitat, and dual-chamber airlocks could reduce how much dust gets inside astronauts\u2019 living quarters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe existence of Mars dust at these ultrafine sizes has been predicted for a long time, and PIXL gave us the chance to measure it directly on Mars,\u201d said Scott VanBommel, a Perseverance scientist at Washington University in St. Louis and the paper\u2019s lead author. \u201cThe larger clumps, the Martian dust bunnies, get shaken off over time. But the smallest particles stay behind, and those are the ones that pose the greatest challenge for human support systems.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chemically, the dust matches the iron- and sulfur-rich composition that earlier missions measured. The PIXL instrument also found the dust to be enriched in phosphorus and detected signs of calcium sulfate.<\/p>\n

Protecting crews<\/strong><\/h2>\n

On Earth, airborne particles, or particulate matter, below 2.5 micrometers (that is, fine particles) are tied to a range of negative health effects because they can penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream. Studies have shown that ultrafine particles (those no larger than 100 nanometers) can travel from the nasal cavity to the brain along the olfactory nerve.<\/p>\n

Martian dust is composed predominantly of silicate minerals and carries chemically reactive compounds, including perchlorates that can disrupt thyroid function and reactive iron that induces cellular damage. Scientists believe that the health risks of Mars dust depend on the quantity of dust and length of exposure.<\/p>\n

The PIXL results are the first on-site measurements of fine and ultrafine particles on Mars, and this research can inform broader efforts to refine indoor dust-exposure limits for astronauts, develop safe habits, and establish ways to remove dust while exploring Mars.<\/p>\n

NASA is already working on solutions to extraterrestrial dust hazards, using ground test facilities and lunar missions as proving grounds for future Mars explorers. In March 2025, the agency tested an Electrodynamic Dust Shield<\/a>, which used electric fields to clear lunar regolith from glass and thermal radiator surfaces on the Moon. Developed at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, it landed on the Moon aboard Firefly Aerospace\u2019s Blue Ghost Mission 1. At NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center in Houston, engineers at the Lunar Development and Test Facility<\/a> use vacuum chambers and lunar regolith simulant to test spacesuit components, mechanisms, and a Handheld Lunar Electrostatic Dust Mitigation tool ahead of Artemis missions to the lunar surface.<\/p>\n

More about Perseverance<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Managed for NASA by Caltech, JPL built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover on behalf of the agency\u2019s Science Mission Directorate as part of NASA\u2019s Mars Exploration Program portfolio. NASA JPL also built PIXL and SHERLOC.<\/p>\n

To learn more about Perseverance visit:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/mars-2020-perseverance<\/a><\/p>\n

-end-<\/p>\n

Media Contacts<\/strong>
DC Agle
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-9011
david.c.agle@jpl.nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\n

Karen Fox \/ Alana Johnson
NASA Headquarters, Washington
240-285-5155 \/ 202-672-4780
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov<\/a> \/ alana.r.johnson@nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\n

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\nAmanda Barnett <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over 1,645 Martian days, NASA\u2019s Perseverance Mars rover measured the fine and ultrafine Martian dust particles found clinging to samples of spacesuit materials that are carried aboard the rover, including some that are small enough to penetrate the lungs and enter the bloodstream. The findings will be published Tuesday, Oct. 27, in the Proceedings of [\u2026] Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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