Lunar soil is the fine regolith found on the surface of the Moon. Regolith ( Greek: "blanket rock" is a layer of loose Heterogeneous material covering solid rock. Its properties can differ significantly from those of terrestrial soil. Soil, often typeset as SOiL, is a four piece rock band from Chicago Illinois United States founded by Shaun Glass Tom Schofield Tim King and Adam Zadel It is essentially devoid of moisture and air, two important components found in soil on Earth. Temperature and layers The temperature of the Earth's atmosphere varies with altitude the mathematical relationship between temperature and altitude varies among five

The term lunar soil is often used interchangeably with "lunar regolith" but typically refers to the finer fraction of regolith, that which is composed of grains one centimeter in diameter or less. Some have argued that the term "soil" is not correct in reference to the Moon because soil is defined as having organic content, whereas the Moon has none. Soil, often typeset as SOiL, is a four piece rock band from Chicago Illinois United States founded by Shaun Glass Tom Schofield Tim King and Adam Zadel Organic matter (or organic material) is Matter that has come from a once-living Organism; is capable of However, standard usage among lunar scientists is to ignore that distinction. "Lunar dust" generally connotes even finer materials than lunar soil, the fraction which is less than 30 micrometres in diameter.

Contents 1 Solar weathering processes 2 Soil properties 3 Moon fountains and electrostatic levitation 4 Harmful effects of lunar dust 5 Gallery 6 External links 7 References 8 See also

Solar weathering processes

The major solar weathering processes involved in the formation of lunar soil are:

• Comminution: breaking of rocks and minerals into smaller particles;
• Agglutination: welding of mineral and rock fragments together by micrometeorite-impact-produced glass;
• Solar wind spallatation and implantation: sputtering caused by impacts of high energy particles; and
• Fire fountaining: deposition of dark-mantled (DM) deposits, such as the shorty crater orange soil. Comminution is one of the four main groups of mechanical processing and describes the movement of the Particle size distribution (grains drops bubbles into a range of finer In Linguistics, agglutination is the morphological process ofadding Affixes to the base of a Word. The solar wind is a Stream of charged particles&mdasha plasma &mdashthat are ejected from the upper atmosphere of the Sun.

Soil properties

The significance of acquiring appropriate knowledge of lunar soil properties is great. The potential for construction of structures, ground transportation networks, and waste disposal systems, to name a few examples, will depend on real-world experimental data obtained from testing of lunar soil samples. The load-carrying capability of the soil is an important parameter in the design of such structures on Earth.

Due to a myriad of meteorite impacts (with velocities in the range of 20 km/s), the lunar surface is covered with a thin layer of dust, commonly referred to as lunar regolith. Regolith ( Greek: "blanket rock" is a layer of loose Heterogeneous material covering solid rock. The dust is electrically charged and sticks to any surface it comes in contact with. Soil is commonly said to become very dense beneath the top layer of regolith.

Other factors which may affect the properties of lunar soil include large temperature differentials, the presence of a hard vacuum, and the absence of a significant lunar magnetic field (thereby allowing charged solar wind particles to continuously hit the surface of the moon). Temperature is a physical property of a system that underlies the common notions of hot and cold something that is hotter generally has the greater temperature This vacuum means "absence of matter" or "an empty area or space" for the cleaning appliance see Vacuum cleaner. In Physics, a magnetic field is a Vector field that permeates space and which can exert a magnetic force on moving Electric charges A weaker gravitational force and the absence of an atmospheric pressure are additional factors which will affect the design of structures on the surface of the Moon. Newton 's law of universal Gravitation is a physical law describing the gravitational attraction between bodies with mass

Moon fountains and electrostatic levitation

The Moon appears to have a tenuous atmosphere of moving dust particles constantly leaping up from and falling back to the Moon's surface, giving rise to a "dust atmosphere" that looks static but is composed of dust particles in constant motion. The term "Moon fountain" has been used to describe this effect by analogy with the stream of molecules of water in a fountain following a ballistic trajectory but appearing static due to the constancy of the stream. According to the model recently proposed by Timothy J. Stubbs, Richard R. Vondrak, and William M. Farrell of the Laboratory for Extraterrestrial Physics at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center,^[1] this is caused by electrostatic levitation. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA, ˈnæsə is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program The Goddard Space Flight Center ( GSFC) is a major NASA space research laboratory established on May 1, 1959 as NASA's first space flight Electrostatic levitation is the process of using an Electric field to lift a charged object and counteract the effects of Gravity. On the daylit side of the Moon, solar ultraviolet and X-ray radiation is so energetic that it knocks electrons out of atoms and molecules in the lunar soil. Ultraviolet ( UV) light is Electromagnetic radiation with a Wavelength shorter than that of Visible light, but longer than X-rays X-radiation (composed of X-rays) is a form of Electromagnetic radiation. The electron is a fundamental Subatomic particle that was identified and assigned the negative charge in 1897 by J Positive charges build up until the tiniest particles of lunar dust (measuring 1 micron and smaller) are repelled from the surface and lofted anywhere from meters to kilometers high, with the smallest particles reaching the highest altitudes. Eventually they fall back toward the surface where the process is repeated over and over again. On the night side the dust is negatively charged by electrons in the solar wind. The solar wind is a Stream of charged particles&mdasha plasma &mdashthat are ejected from the upper atmosphere of the Sun. Indeed, the fountain model suggests that the night side would charge up to higher voltages than the day side, possibly launching dust particles to higher velocities and altitudes. ^[2] This effect could be further enhanced during the portion of the Moon's orbit where it passes through Earth's magnetotail; see Magnetic field of the Moon for more detail. A magnetosphere' is a highly magnetized region around and possessed by an Astronomical object. The external Magnetic field of the Moon is very weak in comparison to that of the Earth ^[3] On the terminator there could be significant horizontal electric fields forming between the day and night areas, resulting in horizontal dust transport - a form of "moon storm". ^[2][4]

This effect was also predicted in 1956 by science fiction author Hal Clement in his short story "Dust Rag" published in Astounding Science Fiction. Harry Clement Stubbs ( May 30, 1922 in Somerville Massachusetts – October 29, 2003 in Milton Massachusetts) better Analog Science Fiction and Fact is an American Science fiction Magazine. ^[2]

Also in 1956, the American scientist Thomas Townsend Brown appears to have predicted a similar lofting-falling cycle of photoelectrically excited lunar dust (along with controversial and as yet unproven speculations about unusual gravitational properties of this dust, an interest he maintained to the end of his life). Thomas Townsend Brown ( March 18, 1905 &ndash October 22, 1985) was an American Physicist. ^[5].

There is some evidence for this effect. In the early 1960s before Apollo 11, Surveyor 7^[6] and several subsequent Surveyor spacecraft that soft-landed on the Moon returned photographs showing an unmistakable twilight glow low over the lunar horizon persisting after the Sun had set. Surveyor 7 was the seventh and last lunar lander of the Surveyor program that explored the Moon. The Surveyor Program was a NASA program that from 1966 through 1968 sent seven Robotic spacecraft to the surface of the Moon. ^[2] Moreover, the distant horizon between land and sky did not look razor-sharp, as would have been expected in a vacuum where there was no atmospheric haze. Apollo 17 astronauts orbiting the Moon in 1972 repeatedly saw and sketched what they variously called "bands," "streamers" or "twilight rays" for about 10 seconds before lunar sunrise or lunar sunset. Such rays were also reported by astronauts aboard Apollo 8, 10, and 15. These may have been similar to crepuscular rays on Earth. Crepuscular rays, in atmospheric Optics, also known as sun rays, cloud breaks, sunburst, God's rays, Fingers of God ^[2]

Apollo 17 also placed an experiment on the Moon's surface called LEAM, short for Lunar Ejecta and Meteorites. It was designed to look for dust kicked up by small meteoroids hitting the Moon's surface. It had three sensors that could record the speed, energy, and direction of tiny particles: one each pointing up, east, and west. LEAM saw a large number of particles every morning, mostly coming from the east or west—rather than above or below—and mostly slower than speeds expected for lunar ejecta. Also, a few hours after every lunar sunrise, the experiment's temperature rocketed so high—near that of boiling water—that LEAM had to be turned off because it was overheating. It is speculated that this could have been a result of electrically-charged moondust sticking to LEAM, darkening its surface so the experiment package absorbed rather than reflected sunlight. ^[4]

It's even possible that these storms have been spotted from Earth: For centuries, there have been reports of strange glowing lights on the Moon, known as "Transient lunar phenomenon" or TLPs. A transient lunar phenomenon ( TLP) or "Lunar Transient Phenomena" (LTP refers to short-lived lights colors or changes in appearance of the lunar surface Some TLPs have been observed as momentary flashes—now generally accepted to be visible evidence of meteoroids impacting the lunar surface. But others have appeared as amorphous reddish or whitish glows or even as dusky hazy regions that change shape or disappear over seconds or minutes. These may have been a result of sunlight reflecting off of suspended lunar dust. ^[4]

Harmful effects of lunar dust

There are concerns that the dust found on the lunar surface could cause harmful effects on any manned outpost technology and crew members:

• Abrasive nature of the dust particles may rub and wear down surfaces through friction;
• Negative effect on coatings used on gaskets to seal equipment from space, optical lenses that include solar panels and windows as well as wiring;
• Possible damage to an astronaut's lungs, nervous, and cardiovascular systems^[7][8]

Gallery

Relative Concentration Of Various Elements On The Lunar Surface

Relative Concentration (in weight ppm) of Various Elements on Lunar Highlands, Lunar Lowlands, and Earth

External links

• Geotechnical Properties of Lunar Soil
• Parameters of Lunar Soils Lunar and Planetary Institute

References

See also

• Geology of the Moon
• Helium-3
• Lunar surface
• Moon rock
• Space weathering

The geology of the Moon (sometimes called selenology, although the latter term can refer more generally to "lunar This article is about the elemental isotope For the record label Helium 3 see Muse or A&E Records. The lunar surface (or the surface of the Moon) differs greatly from that of Earth. Moon Rock is the debut Album by Paul Steel. It was cancelled for release after the album's first single Your Loss failed to chart upon Space weathering is a blanket term used for a number of processes that act on any body exposed to the harsh space environment

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