The Florida Space Institute is preparing to launch a payload developed at the University of Central Florida (UCF) on an upcoming Blue Origin mission. The experiment, led by Julie Brisset, interim director of the institute, will test a Dust In-situ Manipulation System (DIMS) in space.
The DIMS payload is designed to simulate and control dust clouds in microgravity environments. Its purpose is to study how dust behaves in undisturbed settings, such as interstellar dust clouds or pollution aerosols found in Earth’s atmosphere. The system allows researchers to examine the behavior of dust particles, including their levitation, sorting by size, and interactions with light.
“Once you start research in this field, it is surprising to see how important dust is in many applications,” Brisset says. “From the confines of our universe to the lunar surface and our own atmosphere, dust particles play a key role in many physical processes.”
By using low gas pressure and thermal piezoelectric elements, DIMS creates a cloud of dust grains that can move through the experimental volume at various speeds. Piezoelectric elements are used for converting mechanical energy into electrical energy and vice versa. High-speed cameras from two angles capture 3D images of these clouds.
The technology aims to address challenges related to levitating dust clouds in microgravity conditions—such as size sorting and particle orientation—and overcome hardware constraints and residual accelerations. It was developed as a general platform for experiments relevant to astrophysics, planetary science, and atmospheric studies.
“The ultimate goal is an orbital platform that can be useful for a range of scientific activities,” Brisset says.
The project also has potential applications beyond basic research. By demonstrating ways that dust can be transported at different speeds, DIMS could inform future resource utilization methods like asteroid mining or extracting water from lunar soil. The NASA Flight Opportunities Program funded this work and supported training for students and early-career scientists.
“Such programs are a great intersection between science, technology development, and education,” Brisset says.
This NASA-funded experiment involves collaboration with Technischen Universität Braunschweig.
