Application of the particle trajectory imaging for modelling dusty plasma levitation on the Moon

Abstract

The future robotic and human lunar landing missions to the Moon has many factors which turn them into difficult technology and science tasks. One of these factors is the influence of the dust. Upper layers of the regolith are an insulator. The regolith exposed to permanent bombardment by micrometeorites and acquire a charge due to solar wind fluxes and solar UV radiation. These factors create a charge distribution on the surface of the Moon: positive on the illuminated side and negative on the night side. On the day side of the Moon near the surface layer exists possibility of formation an electric field. Charged dust particles of micron and submicron sizes can take off and levitate over the surface. The aim of the work is to get visualization of the dynamic of dust particles under a charged surface with simultaneously estimating its parameters as accurately as possible. The experimental setup based on vacuum chamber for physical modelling of dusty plasma levitation is described. For visualization of the dust particles trajectory a stereo system of two cameras with a laser as source of illumination is used. Image processing techniques for estimating the particle trajectory in three dimensional coordinates and examples of processing results are presented.