I was going to blame AP for this annoying line about an instrument on the Blue Ghost lander:
“It carried a vacuum to suck up Moon dirt for analysis ... ”
[ https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-02/private-lunar-lander-blue-ghost-touches-down-on-the-moon/105000988 ]
but it turns out the company, NASA and everyone insist on using this terminology:
“NASA Lander to Test Vacuum Cleaner on Moon for Sample Collection”
[ https://www.nasa.gov/missions/artemis/clps/nasa-lander-to-test-vacuum-cleaner-on-moon-for-sample-collection/ ]
Of course it blows gas onto the regolith and then blows more gas around to manipulate the gas/dust mixture that swirls around in the ambient vacuum
And actual vacuum cleaners don’t create vacuums, they just create pressure differences and airflows, so I should probably relax and accept the terminology.
Greg Egan
npub12c…gd38p
2025-03-02 10:29:09 UTC
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2025-03-02 10:29:09 UTCEvent JSON
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