NASA Center for Lunar Dust and Atmospheric Studies (NLSI/CCLDAS)

NASA Lunar Science Institute’s Colorado Center for Lunar Dust and Atmospheric Studies (NLSI/CCLDAS) has completed the construction of a 3 MV electrostatic dust accelerator. The device is capable of accelerating ~ 0.01 – 10-micron radius dust particles to velocities in the approximate range of 1-60 km/s. The experimental goals of CCLDAS include the effects of hypervelocity dust impacts on:

a) optical devices
b) secondary dust ejecta, neutral gas, and plasma production
c) electrical signals from antennas
d) the testing and calibration of dedicated dust instrumentation

The facility is available for use by the lunar and space physics communities. Please contact Mihaly Horanyi (horanyi@colorado.edu) if you are interested in using this facility.