Four dust shields were placed inside a stainless-steel high vacuum chamber in order to perform tests under simulated lunar vacuum conditions. The chamber pressure is monitored using two MKS Series PR 4000 vacuum gauges for pressures above 6 kPa and a Varian Ion Gage for high vacuum ranges. The high vacuum was supplied using a Varian Model 300HT Turbo molecular pump, and the roughing vacuum is accomplished using a Varian 600 series scroll pump. Together the system is capable of reaching 107 kPa with tests typically performed at
5.072.0 106 kPa.
Each dust shield is covered with approximately 20 mg of dust, delivered by rapidly shaking a feeder cup containing a mesh. The mesh sizes are chosen for their ability to contain dust without dropping particles until shaken. Typically, each grain size requires its own metal mesh. Dust is deposited to the surface of each shield individually while under vacuum conditions using two translation stages controlled via LabView (National Instruments, Inc.). The translation stages position the shaker feeder over the shield, deposit dust, and move to the next shield.
The demonstration of clearing efficiencies was performed by using simple 5 cm 5 cm solar panels, which