← Back to NASA Technology Projects
Completed TRL 4 (started at 2, targeting 4)
Environmental issues abound on the lunar surface, challenging the establishment of a sustainable human presence on the Moon. Identification of durable material and mechanism technologies suitable for such harsh lunar conditions, including dust, vacuum, extreme temperatures, and ultraviolet (UV) radiation, is hindered by limited lab testing, costly simulated processes, long lead times, and restricted specimen geometries associated with testing in conditions representative of harsh lunar and planetary environments.
To fill this void, the configurable Dust, UV radiation, Space Thermal Environmental (DUSTE, formerly SLIDE) testbed has been implemented to subject materials, including hard and soft goods, and mechanisms to wear caused by lunar dust in vacuum. The custom testbed can expose candidate materials to abrasion caused by dust (e.g., lunar or Martian simulants, standard abrasives, etc.) in vacuum or evaluate mechanism performance with dust in vacuum. The unique dust delivery mechanism allows a broad range of dust surface loadings tailorable for different applications. Testing can be tailored to deposit dust simulant in a continuous or cyclical manner to achieve a variety of surface loadings, while simultaneously or selectively subjecting a test article to cryogenic temperatures and UV radiation. The DUSTE testbed can be adapted to incorporate aspects of other extreme environments, such as Mars, by utilizing Martian dust and regulating pressure.
Environmental conditions that the testbed can simultaneously or selectively achieve include:
By testing materials and devices in a combination of conditions relevant to lunar and planetary surface operations, technologies will be more quickly vetted for performance and more efficiently matured to end-use applications benefiting ongoing and future lunar and planetary exploration.
These advancements in the DUSTE testbed enable a wide range of testing configurations, subjecting devices and candidate materials—both hard and soft goods—to abrasion caused by dust, as well as vacuum conditions, thermal gradients, and UV radiation relevant to applications on the Moon and other extreme space environments, such as Mars, Uranus, and Enceladus. The testbed is highly valuable for screening materials and device concepts before their incorporation into final applications. The DUSTE testbed enhances and streamlines the development and testing process, allowing for quicker and more efficient identification of suitable materials for harsh environment applications without relying on large-scale, costly test campaigns or flight experiments with significant lead times. Overall, the extreme environment testbed provides a crucial capability that will enable the testing of various materials, devices, and technology concepts at different stages of development, ultimately fostering the advancement of disruptive technologies to further NASA’s missions.
Listed on TechPort itself — the most direct way to ask about this specific project.
This is early/mid-stage (TRL 4) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.
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.