In the 1960s, scientists used Barbie dolls to test methods of removing lunar dust from space suits. Dressed in a custom-made spacesuit, Barbie was coated in volcanic ash by a team from Washington State University and then doused with liquid nitrogen. This technique has proven to be more effective than previous cleaning methods, the BBC reveals.
Lunar dust is a problem because of microscopic particles that stick to astronauts’ space suits and are difficult to clean. During the Apollo missions, astronauts were unable to remove dust using standard brushes, which damaged the seals of their spacesuits. In addition to damage to suits, moon dust can severely damage the lungs if inhaled.
With future plans for Moon travel already underway, the need for a new cleaning technique to prevent damage to spacesuits and astronauts quickly became a priority. The idea of ??the researchers was to use a reduced model to carry out the experiments. Scientists don’t need to work on a human scale suit.
“We put this Barbie in her jumpsuit, dusted her, and then used a spray bar. We were able to spin the Barbie 360 ??degrees like an astronaut would in an airlock,” explained Ian Wells, a researcher from the University of Washington. Thus, this method has surpassed all previously employed techniques.
According to the researcher, the Washington State University team named their Barbie “Rosie”, after “Rosie the Riveter”, an American feminist icon. “I personally wanted to call her Barb, after Barbie, but also after one of my personal idols, Barbara Morgan, an astronaut from my home state of Idaho,” said Ian Wells.
“We still have her and we take her with us to conferences…I don’t think she’s going to do any more tests.” She has had her day. We’re going to move on to real-life astronauts,” he added. Even though Rosie was removed from future experiments, the Barbie will have played a role in advancing space research.
