title: Experimental demonstration of Martian soil simulant removal from a surface using a pulsed plasma jet.
abstract: A plasma jet produced in a small coaxial plasma gun operated at voltages up to 2 kV and working in pure carbon dioxide (CO2) at a few Torr is used to remove Martian soil simulant from a surface. A capacitor with 0.5 mF is charged up from a high voltage source and supplies the power to the coaxial electrodes. The muzzle of the coaxial plasma gun is placed at a few millimeters near the dusty surface and the jet is fired parallel with the surface. Removal of dust is imaged in real time with a high speed camera. Mars regolith simulant JSC-Mars-1A with particle sizes up to 5 mm is used on different types of surfaces made of aluminium, cotton fabric, polyethylene, cardboard, and phenolic.
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics, 077125 Bucharest, Romania.
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Ticoş
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics, 077125 Bucharest, Romania.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Scurtu
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics, 077125 Bucharest, Romania.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Toader
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics, 077125 Bucharest, Romania.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Banu