Dust removal and best practices at the mars desert research station

The Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in the Utah desert is an isolated habitat in which six humans simulate living and working on Mars. Crew 91, EuroMoonMars 1, lived and worked in the habitat in the winter of 2010. The human subjects dealt with the omnipresent problem of dust contamination in the habitat, just as they would if living in a closed system dwelling on the Moon or Mars. The study seeks to use the experience at MDRS to develop guidelines for dust control in a manned lunar habitat. Sources of dust and methods of its spread throughout the habitat were observed and recorded. Methods of dust removal and control were evaluated, with wet processes as the most efficient and least likely to cause airborne particles. Combinations of some methods are explored and discussed. Recommendations are consistent with a national health organization's engineering control practices to reduce airborne dust. Overall results suggest a need for personal protective equipment, fine particulate filters, at least one airlock between habitat and planetary surface, and periodic housekeeping between EVA events.