Hi Markev! I wondered what that strange tiny object was on the end of your finger yesterday! I was on the edge of a conversation you were having - now I know What a well conceived idea! Perhaps the surface of the lenses will need to repel dust as there would be a lot around at touchdown. Has anyone any ideas how that might be achieved?

Here is a post I made at Kickstarter that points to the early stages of development of a camera that doesn't require a battery - perhaps we might also think about other applications for those tiny bouncing cameras too:

www.cs.columbia.edu/CAVE/projects/self_powered_camera/

This kind of self powering technology could potentially be invaluable in extending our project's life and interest in it. Watching the playback of the LM1 lander touching down would be just great in enthusing the public back home on earth, and I bet there is some good science that can come out of this too.

At the time of my original post I talked about a miniature autonomous roaming camera capable of self-powered flight that could provide a far broader perspective. It could also be used as a scientific tool for exploration down the borehole. If a camera is useful for surgeons, then perhaps it might also be valuable for lunar scientists? The bore hole camera would have more sensors than simply ones for light (at and beyond our range of vision). Piggy back this idea with Markev's great concept, and perhaps geologists and the like would get a visually stunning 3D section of the moon. Wouldn't it be fabulous to see animated visualizations of that journey. Size is everything - the smaller, lighter, and more elegantly designed these technologies are (for form, function and power), the better.

Wow Marekv, I really like this idea!

The 'awesome factor' of a landing video would be huge and there may be some science to be taken from it too.

What about some sort of electrostatic repulsion for the lenses, as that's how the dust is so 'sticky' in the first place? We've got hydrophobic materials, now we just need some dustaphobic ones!

If there's a battery powering the cameras, could it have enough charge to repel the dust? Could the same be achieved without a power source?

I love this idea!