Laboratory Experiments on Dusty Spacesuit Charging and Arcing in Plasma

Laboratory experiments are carried out to study plasma charging and arcing of spacesuit material, Gore-Tex, covered by lunar dust simulant, JSC-1A. Results show that the spacesuit surface potential is dependent on both the ambient plasma condition and the dust coverage. The dust layer acts as a capacitor and influences the potential of the spacesuit material beneath it with respect to the dust sur...