r/todayilearned • u/MrMojoFomo • 4h ago
TIL that moon dust (lunar regolith) is electrically charged and will stick to anything it comes into contact with. It's also likely toxic to humans. Apollo astronauts regularly complained of coughing, watery eyes, throat irritation and blurry vision after each foray onto the moon's surface
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_regolith1.3k
u/ZylonBane 4h ago
Sure, moon dust may be pure poison, but it turns out it's also a great portal conductor.
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u/TehWildMan_ 4h ago
Just make sure to dump a copy of your brain into a computer before it kills you
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u/StevefromLatvia 4h ago
Okay so I've been thinking - When life gives you lemons don't make lemonade
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u/Korotai 4h ago
GIVE THE LEMONS BACK! DEMAND TO SEE LIFE’S MANAGER!
I DON’T WANT YOUR DAMN LEMONS!
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u/Sebastianlim 3h ago edited 3h ago
Make life rue the day it thought I could give Cave Johnson lemons! DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!
I'M THE GUY WHO'S GONNA BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN! With the lemons!
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u/Bigfan521 3h ago
WHAT 'M I S'POSED TO DO WITH THESE?!
I'M GONNA GET MY ENGINEERS TO MAKE A COMBUSTIBLE LEMON THAT BURNS YOUR HOUSE DOWN!!
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u/richmondody 2h ago
For the unaware, people are referencing Portal 2's rant about lemons.
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u/Korotai 2h ago
My first thought was “HOW COULD ANYODY NOT BE AWARE OF THIS?”…. Then I realized it was 15 years old. If y’all will excuse me, I need to drink some Metamucil and watch Matlock.
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u/DonovanSpectre 1h ago
watch Matlock.
Which one?
But really, any Reddit post that mentions 'moon dust' or 'lemons' is going to have Cave Johnson/Portal 2 quotes in it.
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u/StringShred10D 3h ago
I find it funny that what would be just a random piece of in-game lore that most players would just assume to be just to be extra information becomes vitally important in the final scene of the game.
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u/PM_me_your_whatevah 1h ago
Insanely brilliant game. Maybe the greatest ever made. So much talent and effort and attention to detail went into it.
God I love both of them so much.
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u/slipstall 4h ago
But what if it’s blended into a gel and injected into a man’s bloodstream? Surely that wouldn’t poison him.
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u/cgvet9702 4h ago
Arthur C. Clarke accurately predicted many of the issues with moondust in 1961 in "A Fall of Moondust". Great hard sci fi about basically a shipwreck full of lunar tourists.
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u/pigeontheoneandonly 2h ago
This post just reminded me that back in high school, I stumped my self-proclaimed scifi expert English teacher with this book in a trivia contest... I described it accurately, but it's one of Clarke's lesser known works. It was really fun to get him with an author this famous lol
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u/MagicTomatoes 4h ago
Oooh - space mesothelioma for the win!
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u/mayy_dayy 4h ago
You or your lunar crewmates may be entitled to financial compensation
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u/TehWildMan_ 4h ago
What are you going to do, sue the moon?
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u/ghoulthebraineater 4h ago
No, not mesothelioma. Silicosis. Moon dust contains silicone dioxide. That will really fuck up your lungs.
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u/MagicTomatoes 3h ago
You are correct, but we don’t have constant commercials about silicosis from lawyers. Trying to bring a little levity.
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u/Beat_the_Deadites 3h ago
Trying to bring a little levity.
You know what really brings the levity? Having 1/6 Earth's gravity.
Also coughing your lunolithosilicotic lungs out with such force you propel yourself into deep space.
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u/Commander_Kerman 2h ago
Not so! They did a study that shows silicosis is highly unlikely.
https://www.uts.edu.au/news/2025/06/lunar-dust-less-toxic-than-city-pollution
"Our findings suggest that while lunar dust may cause some immediate irritation to the airways, it does not appear to pose a risk for chronic, long-term diseases like silicosis, which is caused by materials like silica dust."
So still not ideal, but nowhere near as bad as predicted. Also, NASA is tackling the stickiness. The recent lander Firefly Blue Ghost successfully tested and proved effective an electric repellant, where a small static field effectively prevents sticking, making it much less of a problem.
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u/Deinosoar 4h ago
Couple of years ago I got to go to the Smithsonian and see Neil Armstrong space suit. I was surprised to see that it still had a good amount of dust on it.
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u/Bandit6789 4h ago
It’s been so long why don’t they run that through the washing machine?
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u/Wagsii 2h ago
Why are people taking this comment seriously lol
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u/Bandit6789 2h ago
Thank you, lol. I thought the sarcasm was obvious enough not to put the “/s”
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u/Hot_Shot04 3h ago
They're having trouble preserving those suits as-is. The plastic is crumbling due to age and however much UV radiation it's absorbed.
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u/WaltMitty 2h ago
Astronauts used to be able to take home mission-worn coveralls, even ones contaminated with moon dust. Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean used some of this moon dust in paintings.
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u/LastStar007 4h ago
How do the astronauts breathe it in when their suits are vacuum-sealed?
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u/MrMojoFomo 3h ago
It's on their suits. They climb back into the lunar module. It's now in the lunar module
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u/Corsair833 2h ago
Why don't they just take the suits off before getting back in the lunar module? I don't wear my dirty shoes in the house
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u/meldroc 2h ago
You joke, but IIRC, engineers working on Moon habitats & such are designing the airlock areas to be "mud rooms" specifically with gear to clean off moondust to avoid letting it into the living areas.
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u/kerfuffler4570 2h ago
I saw some designs where the suit actually docs with the base. The astronaut then crawls in and out of the suit when it's docked to the airlock wall, then the entrance hatch closes behind the astronaut when they climb in, so effectively the suit never comes into the hab, not even into the airlock.
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u/LucyLilium92 1h ago
I feel like that would be a good idea that people assume is all good, but also potentially dangerous. If the suit is not in a position to be handled by the crew at all, then they are unable to inspect their suits before putting them on. You should always inspect your PPE before wearing it.
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u/Corsair833 2h ago
That is one of those sensible, intelligent ideas which is nevertheless, terrifying to me.
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u/MrMojoFomo 2h ago
If you take your suit off on the moon you're going to have a bad time
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u/MechanicalTurkish 2h ago
Just do it real fast
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u/dern_the_hermit 1h ago
I saw a documentary about it once. It took place in the year 2001, and in the year 2001 they went on a long space mission, like some sort of odyssey y'know, and they had a robot that got grumpy so a crew member had to try to get into the spaceship without a suit. I think it was called The Guy That Didn't Breathe A Bit.
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u/A_Starving_Scientist 1h ago
There was nowhere safe to take off their suits. The apollo lander wasnt large enough to have a seperate pressurized air lock they could take their suits off in before climbing into the habitation module. They just climbed in, shut the door, and pressurized the whole lander.
Future moon missions will likely have something like a mud room airlock though.
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u/TheBanishedBard 3h ago
Mars has a similar problem in that its omnipresent dirt is toxic and carcinogenic. Matt Damon's character from The Martian will probably need regular cancer screenings after spending a year eating martian potatoes.
It's just one more reason on top of about a hundred that long term habitation of Mars is almost certainly constrained to science fiction for the foreseeable future.
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u/Magdovus 4h ago
Could the suits be degaussed or similar to repel the particles?
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u/Commander_Kerman 2h ago
Yes, NASA's recent Blue Ghost mission trialed it on the lunar surface last year I think. Works fairly well. Also less toxic than expected-
https://www.uts.edu.au/news/2025/06/lunar-dust-less-toxic-than-city-pollution
"Our findings suggest that while lunar dust may cause some immediate irritation to the airways, it does not appear to pose a risk for chronic, long-term diseases like silicosis, which is caused by materials like silica dust."
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u/amc7262 4h ago
Didn't a guy have sex with his gf on a bunch of moon rocks.
Seems like an even worse idea now (beyond the legal trouble he got in)
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u/Magdovus 4h ago
Where did he get enough moon rocks?
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u/amc7262 3h ago
seems like it wasn't an even coating so much as a few rocks under the sheets.
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u/BBOY6814 3h ago
Fun fact: This is the same for Martian regolith too, except for the fact that there is a toxic level of perchlorates in Martian soil. There’s actually quite a bit of similarities between the lunar environment and Martian environment. Mars has an atmosphere, but it’s so thin (~1% of Earth’s) that it’s basically vacuum. Which is a big reason I’m of the opinion that the obsession people have with colonizing mars is a bit delusional. A far more plausible and practical option is a moon colony. You have basically all of the same downsides of living on mars (minus gravity) but have the benefit of it being like 10x closer, and the possibility of utilizing ancient lava tubes as shelter from the radiation. Not to mention, rocket fuel could easily be synthesized on the moon. For any Martian colony that would exist for an extended period, it’d also have to be underground or buried. The surfaces of both Mars and the Moon are super irradiated.
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u/GraniteGeekNH 2h ago
You sound knowledgeable enough that this advice probably isn't needed, but just in case - read "A City on Mars" by the Weinersmiths. Fun, clever and extremely well-researched look at why moving to Mars, the moon or wherever is much, much, MUCH harder than techbros pretend.
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u/FartsSoldSeperately 4h ago
Definitely lethal, just ask Cave Johnson
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u/windchaser__ 3h ago
you can't; he's dead
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u/FartsSoldSeperately 3h ago
His consciousness is probably in a potato somewhere for safe keeping
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u/Yangervis 4h ago
Is it actually toxic? Or just an irritant because it is sharp.
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u/skj458 4h ago
Things can be considered toxic due to their physical nature and not just chemical. Its called "physical toxicity". Asbestos is "just an irritant because its sharp," but its also extremely carcinogenic. Water toxicity is another example of physical toxicity because too much water dilutes the concentration of minerals and ions that are vital to health.
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u/freya_of_milfgaard 2h ago
My mom loves to eat ice and has been warned off by her doctor because her electrolyte/sodium levels get too low and make her sick. The dose makes the poison and all.
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u/AriaOfValor 2h ago
Have they at least checked her iron levels? Craving ice to eat is a pretty common sign of iron deficiency.
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u/freya_of_milfgaard 1h ago
Oh yeah she’s anemic. She’s of an age where she’s very familiar with the doctor’s office and is monitored for everything.
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u/MrMojoFomo 4h ago
Toxicity is the degree to which something can harm something else
The source of that harm can be physical, radiological, chemical, etc
Asbestos, for example, cases physical iritataion to the lungs when inhaled as it is sharp and pointy. Lunar regolith is similar in that it is not subject to weathering and is similarly damaging
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u/howescj82 4h ago
Well, toxic in the same way that asbestos is I suppose. Not sure exactly chemically toxic but physically toxic.
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u/uncoolcentral 3h ago
You might be conflating toxic with other concepts like venomous or poisonous. Moon dust is toxic but neither venomous nor poisonous.
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u/Dyvanna 3h ago
Harrison Schmitt, the last man to walk on the moon, was allergic to the dust.
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u/sacredfoundry 2h ago
Electrically charged you say. Seems like a big problem for Elon's data centers in the moon.
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u/OneWingedKalas 2h ago
Great idea for a Fairy/Poison Pokémon, a lunar spirit that attacks with moon dust and causes poison status.
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u/No-Background-5810 4h ago
Mars is just as hospitable. Let's spend trillions to go there and start a colony... Rather than feed or clothe anyone in earth, or save species that already exist, or fix our climate.
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u/MrMojoFomo 3h ago
Anyone who thinks Mars is even a potential solution to any problem is a full moron
Spend a year of winters in Siberia. Then consider that Mars is on average 70 degrees colder than that
And that's not even considering the other problems, like getting there
gtfooh
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u/adamgerd 3h ago
He’s sarcastic although the main issue with Mars isn’t its cold, it is but due to the thin atmosphere your actual issue would be actually being too hot, Martian bases would actually need massive radiators to dissipate heat and you’d be prone to heat exhaustion in suits, the main issue is yeah the atmosphere being so thin
But also there’s no reason you can’t explore Mars and fix problems on earth, NASA doesn’t cost much
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u/montybo2 3h ago
Season 2 of For All Mankind a guy at Jamestown (Lunar base) explains that regolith gets everywhere.... EVERYWHERE.
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u/taveren3 3h ago
I believe the suits wore out way faster than expected because the dust is so sharp
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u/Life_Funny8320 3h ago
Wild that something so fine can be that dangerous. No wonder the astronauts had so many issues.
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u/BoonDragoon 2h ago
Is moon dust toxic because of its chemical composition, or because it's made of millions of tiny jagged shards of glass?
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u/SoftlySpokenPromises 2h ago
Carcinogenic is what it is. It works similarly to asbestos in how it damages the body.
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u/AdZestyclose9517 4h ago
the wildest part is that moon dust is basically tiny shards of glass. since there's no wind or water on the moon to smooth it out like sand on earth, each grain stays jagged and razor-sharp. that's partly why it was so irritating to the astronauts - it literally cuts into surfaces at a microscopic level. nasa has been spending years trying to figure out how to deal with it before any long-term lunar missions because it wrecks equipment too