About CCLDAS

D.R. Scott (Apollo 15). The apparent “haze” above the hills is caused by dust on the camera lens. (Courtesy of NASA)

We study the lunar dust/plasma environment through a combination of modeling, theoretical work and laboratory experiments.

We develop new experimental processes to determine:

The effects that a charged surface mobilizing dusty particles affects the lunar atmosphere
How solar radiation is responsible for the lunar dusty atmosphere
How dust can be mitigated on lunar missions

We provide experimental facilities to scientists and institutions around the world with the following capabilities:

Dust accelerators: 3 MeV and 'mini' 20 kV
Large and small test chambers: includes lunar environment simulators
Main Lab: ~5000 ft²
Office/Conference Space: ~5000 ft²
Lab founded: 2009

Recent News

6/6/12

CCLDAS Hosts Dust, Atmosphere and Plasma 2012 Meeting

CCLDAS will host DAP 2012 on June 6-8, 2012. The Dust, Atmosphere and Plasma environment of the Moon and Small Bodies (DAP-2012) workshop will be a forum to discuss our current understanding of the surface environment of the Moon and asteroids, to share new results from past and ongoing missions, and to describe expectations for planned upcoming missions. The workshop will be focused on the open science questions, the status and future of our modeling and laboratory experimental capabilities, the definition of the required measurements and instrument capabilities for future investigations from orbit, or to be deployed on the surface.
The meeting information can be found here.

9/26/11

CCLDAS Host Second Annual International Observe the Moon Night.

Saturday, October 8, 2011 marked the second annual International Observe the Moon Night (InOMN). InOMN is public outreach event created to increase public interest in and awareness of the Moon; to give them a chance to look through telescopes and learn about the Moon, and see how exciting current lunar research can be. Adrienne Dove organized a CCLDAS event at the Courthouse Lawn on the Pearl Street Mall in downtown Boulder, CO. Many representative for CCLDAS were at the event, including researchers and graduate and undergraduate students. A full description with pictures of the 2011 InOMN as well as previous events can be found here.

9/26/11

Marcus Piquette is awarded the ARCS Scholarship.

Marcus Piquette has been awarded the 2011-2012 ARCS Scholarship. He was nominated by Dr. Mihály Horányi. More information about the ARCS Scholarship can be found here.

6/20/11

Dr. Andrew Poppe wins AGU Outstanding Student Paper Award.

Dr. Andrew Poppe has received AGU's Outstanding Student Paper Award from the December 2010 meeting for his work on simulations of the photoelectron sheath on the lunar surface. His paper, "Non-monotonic potentials above the lunar surface: implications for electron reflectometry measurements" was presented in the planetary science section of the meeting and is accompanied by a publication in Geophysical Research Letters entitled, "Negative potentials above the day-side lunar surface in the terrestrial plasma sheet: evidence of non-monotonic potentials".

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