Russian scientists to study lunar dust hazards

Moscow: Russian scientists will study the hazards of lunar dust for humans, Deputy Director of the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems within the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Sychyov said.

“The dust has the structure of the ‘hedgehog’ and if it gets into humans’ lungs, they won’t be able to get rid of it. This is very dangerous. The lunar dust has to be studied from the viewpoint of safety,” the researcher said.

As Russia implements its Luna-Grunt (Moon-Soil) mission (scheduled for 2025), the institute’s scientists plan to obtain lunar dust samples for studies, Sychyov said.

“In our application, we asked for the delivery of dust rather than simply soil to study its structure, chemical composition and generally get to know how hazardous it can be,” he pointed out.

Theoretically, the lunar soil can be used for creating greenhouses at lunar bases but this issue is not yet being considered because there is no sufficient amount of soil and it has not been studied thoroughly, the researcher said.