Scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., said they are developing a transparent coating that prevents dirt from sticking in the same way an Asian lotus plant sheds water. They said although a lotus leaf appears smooth, under a microscope its surface is seen to contain innumerable tiny spikes that greatly reduce the area on which water and dirt can attach.

"If you splash lotus leaves with water, it just beads up and rolls off, indicating they have a special hydrophobic or water-repelling ability," said Eve Wooldridge, the project's lead investigator. "This ability also prevents dust from adhering to the leaves."

That quality is what the NASA team says it's attempting to replicate to prevent dirt from accumulating on the surfaces of spacesuits, scientific instruments, robotic rovers, solar array panels and other hardware used in space.

"Made from silica, zinc oxide, and other oxides, its potential uses on Earth are limitless," NASA said. "It could be applied to car windshields, camera lenses and eyeglasses -- almost anywhere a need exists to repel dirt."

The coating is one of several technologies being developed for application to space exploration missions.

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