Waverider

WaveRider is a form of EDS technology that uses wires or insulated metal rods held a few millimeters above a substrate that is laden with dust. The wires carry a high-voltage AC square-wave signal. As the wires are moved across the surface, the dust is repelled and moves away from the wires until the whole surface is cleaned. The benefit of WaveRider over traditional EDS is that it can work on any surface, whereas traditional EDS only works with an insulating top coat. This would be a concern to any spacecraft that uses a statically dissipative surface as it's exterior top coat, and would require something like WaveRider to remove dust. Additionally, It may be beneficial to have moving wires as opposed to just having stationary electrodes for optically reliant surfaces (such as mirrors, solar panels, and helmets), as stationary wires can affect visibility. Also, because it uses wires, it can conform to irregularly shaped surfaces such as astronaut helmets or curved radiator surfaces. Moving electrodes may also offer fewer integration complexities compared with embedding stationary electrodes above the surface, since it may save weight and is structurally less complex. Electrodes on top of a surface don't place any burden on integrating it within a system (e.g., traditional EDS needs to be embedded inside cover glass for solar panels, inside O-rings/gaskets, or beneath the surface of a thermal control coating for radiators). It won't affect the properties of a coating, and there are no issues with how well it adheres to a surface like there are with traditional EDSs. Due to the nature of the technology, WaveRider could be adapted into a handheld tool that would allow much more ease of use, which is a freedom that astronauts wouldn't have if the system was built into a spacesuit or built into a machine. Due to the lack of environmental erosion and exposure to solar wind radiation, meteorite, and micrometeorite bombardment, regolith dust on the moon is sharp and jagged like glass particles, and statically sticks to most surfaces. Regolith dust can rapidly degrade the longevity and effectiveness of equipment and tools such as spacesuits, solar panels, mechanical joints, optical lenses, and more. Artemis's ultimate goal of establishing a lasting presence on the Moon, requires equipment to last months and years of exposure, which means a solution to this dust problem poses a significant challenge to overcome to ensure long term longevity and functionality of equipment. EDS (Electrodynamic Dust Shields) technology was created to address this problem, by integrating a system that utilizes electrical pulses to remove the statically charge regolith from a variety of surfaces. WaveRider is a type of EDS technology that was developed out of this need to solve the lunar dust problem.