That’s such a weirdly specific detail but also kinda fascinating. Imagine going to the Moon and the first thing you notice is “huh… smells like gunpowder.
All 12 moonwalkers had "lunar hay fever" from dust smelling like gunpowder (2018)
11–20 of 288 posts
Re: All 12 moonwalkers had "lunar hay fever" from dust smelling like gunpowder (2018)
#12[flagged]
[flagged]
Re: All 12 moonwalkers had "lunar hay fever" from dust smelling like gunpowder (2018)
#13Mars has toxic levels of perchlorates in the regolith. That will require that humans never come in contact with the regolith or things that touched it. Those space suits that dock to vehicles seem like a necessity. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perchlorate#On_Mars
TIL
Re: All 12 moonwalkers had "lunar hay fever" from dust smelling like gunpowder (2018)
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
Only 4 are still alive, all in their 90s so that’d be a long time - even if some do have cancer at this stage it’s not likely to affect life expectancy I guess.
We also have to remember that those astronauts were some of the most physically fit individuals in a nation of hundreds of millions which may skew the expected medical outcomes. Especially if we assume they always had the best healthcare available, if from nothing else than doctors asking similiar qiestions about the effects of space travel.
The exposure was brief, too. Wikipedia says mesothelioma has been known to develop from exposures of "only" 1 month. That's a scary short time if it's in your home or workplace, but comfortably longer than an Apollo mission. Could be an issue for a future base, though.
Re: All 12 moonwalkers had "lunar hay fever" from dust smelling like gunpowder (2018)
#15Have any of them developed cancer from the space asbestos yet?
Even with actual asbestos, the risk goes up a lot with duration and intensity of exposure. Probably, the risks of getting cancer from a brief exposure is fairly low, and combined with the ridiculously small sample size of only 12 people to ever set foot on the moon, it's natural that none of them got "moon cancer". That said, with asbesto, it's still possible to get cancer even from brief exposures:
> Although it is clear that the health risks from asbestos exposure increase with heavier exposure and longer exposure time, investigators have found asbestos-related diseases in individuals with only brief exposures. Generally, those who develop asbestos-related diseases show no signs of illness for a long time after exposure. It can take from 10 to 40 years or more for symptoms of an asbestos-related condition to appear. [1]
[1] https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/s...
Re: All 12 moonwalkers had "lunar hay fever" from dust smelling like gunpowder (2018)
#16[flagged]
Re: All 12 moonwalkers had "lunar hay fever" from dust smelling like gunpowder (2018)
#17we have similar problems with volcanic ash on earth
Exactly, but the lack of a water cycle on the moon means that all the dust is sharp and always will be.
It will irritate human mucus membranes whenever it comes in contact. Irritate lungs, eyes, skin.
It degrades rubber seals.
Re: All 12 moonwalkers had "lunar hay fever" from dust smelling like gunpowder (2018)
#18[flagged]
> no PPE needed
Says you ...
Re: All 12 moonwalkers had "lunar hay fever" from dust smelling like gunpowder (2018)
#19[flagged]
This is a very unpleasant comment, consider deleting.
Re: All 12 moonwalkers had "lunar hay fever" from dust smelling like gunpowder (2018)
#20Mars has toxic levels of perchlorates in the regolith. That will require that humans never come in contact with the regolith or things that touched it. Those space suits that dock to vehicles seem like a necessity. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perchlorate#On_Mars
Yeah, the ground on mars is literally toxic. Makes the concept of a Martian colony less appealing. Almost equal to a floating station on Venus. At least there you’d have the correct pressure. I seem to recall that the temperature on Venus at an altitude of one atmospheric pressure is manageable. It’s just also acidic. Possibility easier to deal with than perchlorates.