Lunar Environment Dust Testing Technique Development

Develop and demonstrate testing technique for introducing lunar regolith simulant particles into B351’s 15-foot thermal-vacuum chamber to enable measurable and repeatable lunar environment dust testing. Existing dust test methodologies such as MIL-STD-810G and IEC 680068-2-68 employ gas flow to transport dust around test chambers, but these methods are not applicable at lunar vacuum levels. This effort will develop a method to introduce dust into the 15-foot thermal-vacuum chamber that addresses key aspects of dust testing, such as dust transport and rate of deposition. Candidate tests will be conducted using on power connectors and thermal management systems which are key elements required for Lunar Surface missions such as Viper, commercial landers, and other surface systems.

Current hardware designers targeting operations on or near the lunar surface environment do not have test environments that include lunar thermal-vacuum and dust. Without the ability to test in dusty lunar environments, conservative assumptions are introduced. This testing capability will help address these risks, allowing for a greater level of design optimization without reducing robustness.

This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.