Deal with static electricity on the moon

The moon and Mars have very ideal conditions for static electricity to accumulate: the soil is more arid than desert sand on earth. Therefore, the earth becomes an excellent electrical insulation, not allowing electricity to spread into the ground.

When astronauts travel on the surface of these objects, shoes or wheels will accumulate electrons because of rubbing against stones and dust.The astronaut's outfit or the car they are driving will be loaded with a huge amount of electricity, which can reach hundreds of volts.

Therefore, in bases, it is now necessary to install grounded aluminum panels.When the astronaut returned to the base, they had to pass through these aluminum plates, so that static electricity on them (or in the car) was transferred to the ground.Scientists have devised another way to deal with electrostatic phenomena: attaching needles about 2.5 cm long (made of wolfram fiber, extremely small diameter: 0,000254 cm) placed on an antenna platform.These needles are responsible for making static electricity slowly escape into the atmosphere.