Moon Dust

A longtime UT Professor is a small part of the major endeavor.

"I'm guilty of having a passion when I get an idea in my mind it's all encompassing," says Doctor Larry Taylor.

Doctor Taylor started keeping track of lunar samples in the late sixties.

Now, he's focusing on lunar soil and the tiny jagged particles known as moon dust.

During previous landings, the dust stuck to astronauts like velcro reducing the efficiency of their equipment.

Doctor Taylor adds, "They became more of a black body. That's what we called them. The dust got the astronauts warmer in their suits and that was something we hadn't anticipated that much."

Through his lab work and soil samples brought to earth by the Apollo missions, Doctor Taylor has come to realize it's almost totally magnetic.

He's also learned when melted in the microwave the dust turns to glass.

"We decided we can have microwave roads. We could have landing pads, various things on the moon, bricks and all these things of course are primarily to mitigate against dust to keep dust from forming," says Doctor Taylor.

Lunar DOT: