Moon Dust Problem: Scientists Find Clue to Safer Lunar Roads

The Moon is not just a glowing object in the night sky but a vast construction site of the future. Programs like NASA's Artemis, the Russian-Chinese ILRS station, and European Space Agency projects all point to a serious return to the lunar surface. Yet one small, hostile obstacle stands in the way: lunar regolith.

This fine dust penetrates machinery, damages astronauts' lungs, and clings to surfaces due to static charge. With no wind or water on the Moon to smooth its particles, regolith remains sharp and abrasive, posing a major engineering challenge.

What Lunar Soil Is Really Made Of

Lunar soil is not like fertile Earth ground. It is the product of billions of years of exposure to vacuum, radiation, and constant meteorite impacts. The surface has turned into crushed silicate material mixed with traces of metals. The "maturity” of regolith reflects its history: older material contains finer particles and more nanophase iron.

"Fine regolith behaves aggressively. It penetrates every gap and causes abrasive wear in moving parts. This is a classic technological threat in vacuum conditions,” explained industrial safety engineer Vitaly Korneev in an interview with Pravda.ru.

Dust near the Moon's south pole, especially in the South Pole-Aitken basin, is particularly dangerous due to its electrostatic charge. It behaves like sticky foam that cannot be shaken off, yet remains hard enough to damage metal surfaces.

Testing Moon Dust in the Lab

Scientists from the University of Notre Dame and the University of Central Florida set out to understand how regolith behaves under repeated movement. Using the RIDER testing system and LHS-1E simulant, they recreated "immature” regolith-material that has not yet been ground into ultra-fine powder.

Three types of wheels were tested: a prototype for NASA's VIPER mission, a wheel from Astrobotic's Polaris rover, and a replica of the Apollo lunar rover wheel.

• Number of passes: up to 900 over the same track
• Gravity: simulated at one-sixth of Earth's gravity
• Particle breakdown: minimal
• Dust generation: low for immature regolith

Each wheel repeatedly traveled over a 35-centimeter layer of simulant. Samples were taken every 100 passes to analyze structural changes. The key question was whether repeated motion would break particles into finer dust and create dangerous clouds.

"In simulator experiments, large-scale interaction can sometimes be misleading. However, the stability of particle shape under mechanical stress is a positive sign for equipment durability,” noted physicist Dmitry Lapshin in an interview with Pravda.ru.

Why Immature Regolith Matters

The results, presented at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2026, were encouraging. Even after 900 passes, the particles showed little change in size or shape. This suggests that selecting routes with younger, coarser regolith could significantly reduce dust-related risks.

For future lunar missions, this means rovers will generate less dust, solar panels will remain cleaner for longer, and equipment will suffer less wear. In effect, some areas of the Moon may already offer natural "roads.”

Different wheel materials, including metal and carbon fiber, interacted differently with the soil, but the overall conclusion remained consistent: immature regolith can serve as a stable surface without requiring artificial paving.

"Any movement of soil on the Moon carries risks. If the dust does not break down under wheels, it greatly reduces the chance of electronic failures caused by static discharge,” said information security engineer Maxim Petrov in an interview with Pravda.ru.

The Main Challenge of Lunar Logistics

The key challenge is not building better wheels but finding the right terrain. The Moon's surface is highly uneven in composition. While the south pole attracts interest due to the presence of water ice, it also presents extreme dust conditions.

Recent findings suggest that future missions should prioritize regions with less mature regolith, particularly in highland areas, to ensure safer movement and long-term infrastructure development on the Moon.