Acoustic Levitation Could Work on Mars. Next step: Earth.
Makes me wonder what our friends from the 1800’s would say about this…
Still, with all the controversy behind subjects like this, I’d like to see if - and if - they manage to make it work on Earth, how they would actually implement this technology if not on our daily basis, then on industrial or military areas.
Seems like we’re going to live a 70’s movie story very soon.
Amplify’d from www.gearlog.com
Researchers may have figured out a way to dislodge dust particles from sensitive equipment on the Moon or Mars using sound waves.
Here’s how it works: by playing back a high-pitched (13.8 KHz, 128 dB) standing wave of sound from a 1.25-inch tweeter, and focusing it on a reflector several inches away, researchers from the Department of Physics and Materials Science Program found it was enough to dislodge dust particles on the reflector’s surface
Later, the researchers tested this acoustic levitation process, as it is called, on a solar panel that was reduced to just 10 percent of its original power output after being coated with fine dust. The process boosted output back to 98.4 percent of maximum
This is especially important since dust particles on the Moon and on Mars are sharper and more abrasive than on Earth, thanks to the thinner atmosphere. The next step: figuring out how to make the process work when actually out in the thin atmosphere
