When thinking about the scariness of space, moon dust is not exactly top of the ‘terrible foe’ pile but it’s much more hazardous than you may realise. The Moon, as you know, has no liquid water so the dust on the Moon’s parched plains has the consistency of flour (which allowed the footprints to be made). This fine powder can stick to all it touches and can find its way in to all the creases and seams of your space suit. This dust is made of tiny jagged grains, so it is also rough like sandpaper so can do some damage. Imagine breathing the stuff in, each breath a million tiny daggers, and the damage it can do to your lungs! Over time, the dust would clog them up and eventually kill you and it probably wouldn’t need huge amounts to do so! Apollo 17’s crew learnt their lesson of how dangerous moon dust is back in 1972. So eager to leave the surface, Jack Schmitt and Eugene Cernan forgot to brush the dust off their boots before re-entering their space capsule. Now they knew how annoying this dust could be throughout their mission as it clogged up their suits and they then were stuck with it on their journey home. The dust was immediately airborne and Schmitt soon complained of congestion and something like that of ‘lunar hay fever’! It was too small an amount to hurt them too much and after a day the symptoms subsided but a lesson was learned… fear lunar dust! If we ever return to the Moon to stay, the intrepid pioneers will need to take great care to guard against this subtle hazard.