Lunar Regolith Simulant

I read recently that there is a great need for several tons of lunar
regolith simulant. What would be required for someone to supply that
need? How hard is it to make and certify Moon dirt?

(Richard Alexander) wrote in message om...
I read recently that there is a great need for several tons of lunar
regolith simulant. What would be required for someone to supply that
need? How hard is it to make and certify Moon dirt?

I suspect it depends on how closely you want the material to represent
the respective soil type of the Moon. You mention an interesting
market need here. I wonder who provides such material currently?

Some googling follows.

Here's a 1994 paper on the subject describing a then new lunar soil
simulant.

http://ares.jsc.nasa.gov/HumanExplor...CS/EIC050.HTML

Engineering, Construction, and Operations in Space IV
American Society of Civil Engineers, pp. 857-866, 1994
JSC-1: A NEW LUNAR SOIL SIMULANT

David S. McKay, James L. Carter, Walter W. Boles,
Carlton C. Allen, and Judith H. Allton

"The Lunar Simulant Working Group at Space 92 identified the need for
large quantities of material to be used in engineering studies of the
lunar soil. The previous year the report of the Workshop on Production
and Uses of Simulated Lunar Materials concluded: "Simulants of lunar
rocks and soils with appropriate properties, although difficult to
produce in some cases, will be essential to meeting the system
requirements for lunar exploration" (McKay and Blacic, 1991). In order
to address this need, a new simulant has been developed under the
auspices of the NASA Johnson Space Center. JSC-1 is a glass-rich
basaltic ash which approximates the chemical composition, mineralogy,
particle size distribution, and engineering properties of lunar mare
soil.

"JSC-1 was produced specifically for large- and medium-scale
engineering studies in support of future human activities on the Moon.
Such studies include material handling, construction, excavation, and
transportation. The simulant is also appropriate for research on dust
control, spacesuit durability, and agriculture. JSC-1 is currently
being used in studies of oxygen production and sintering. The simulant
is available in large quantities to any qualified investigator.

This material complements, but does not replace, lunar simulant MLS-1,
produced by the University of Minnesota (Weiblen et al, 1990). MLS-1
is derived from a high-titanium basalt hornfels which approximates the
chemical composition of Apollo 11 soil. The starting material is
totally crystalline. As described below, JSC-1 approximates a
low-titanium mare soil, and contains a high percentage of glass."

Check out the references at the bottom!

Also, we see on this webpage,

http://www.freeluna.com/mdmfg.htm

the description of of one of the Minnesota products.

"So far I've managed to acquire 5 kilograms of Minnesota Lunar
Simulant-1a, a somewhat unrefined version of simulant that is
chemically similar to the lunar soil found at the Apollo 11 landing
site. The more refined versions of the Minnesota Lunar Simulant that
exist include microscopic glass nodules, created by passing a plasma
arc across the unrefined simulant. For my purposes, I felt that the
unrefined simulant would suffice. The soil simulant is essentially
finely ground basalt, about the consistency of ground flour, and
medium grey in color."


---

Karl Hallowell

In article ,
Richard Alexander wrote:
I read recently that there is a great need for several tons of lunar
regolith simulant. What would be required for someone to supply that
need? How hard is it to make and certify Moon dirt?

Depends on how good a simulant it has to be, and for what purpose. Making
something *exactly* like lunar soil is actually quite difficult. None of
the straightforward processes will duplicate its physical properties well.
If you only want a rough chemical match, that's easier.
--
"Think outside the box -- the box isn't our friend." | Henry Spencer
-- George Herbert |

(Karl Hallowell) wrote in message . com...
(Richard Alexander) wrote in message om...
I read recently that there is a great need for several tons of lunar
regolith simulant. What would be required for someone to supply that
need? How hard is it to make and certify Moon dirt?

I suspect it depends on how closely you want the material to represent
the respective soil type of the Moon. You mention an interesting
market need here. I wonder who provides such material currently?

I was motivated to think about this issue from an article on
Space.com:

"But quantities of the made-on-Earth lunar simulant are now long gone,
with only small amounts still around.

"'We believe we need a clone for JSC-1 in multi-ton quantities... and
it's needed now,' said James Carter, a professor of geosciences at the
University of Texas at Dallas. He advocated a 'root' concoction of
simulants that then could be customized in smaller batches with
certain attributes ideal for select types of experiments."

"Mining the Moon, the Gateway to Mars"
http://www.space.com/businesstechnol...ng_041110.html

It wouldn't be too difficult for me to swing by UTD and look up Dr.
Carter, as I live just a few miles from the campus.

My interest in producing lunar simulant is commercial. I have no idea
if it is practical for anyone, much less me, to think in those terms.
That's why I am asking.

Here's a 1994 paper on the subject describing a then new lunar soil
simulant.

http://ares.jsc.nasa.gov/HumanExplor...CS/EIC050.HTML

That's very interesting, and useful as an introduction.

Check out the references at the bottom!

I see again that various Texas universities are involved, including
UTD.

Well, it should be interesting to investigate this matter, though it
seem unlikely that I will ever do anything more practical with the
information I find. At least it won't cost much for me to look.

(Henry Spencer) wrote in message ...
In article ,
Richard Alexander wrote:
I read recently that there is a great need for several tons of lunar
regolith simulant. What would be required for someone to supply that
need? How hard is it to make and certify Moon dirt?

Depends on how good a simulant it has to be, and for what purpose. Making
something *exactly* like lunar soil is actually quite difficult. None of
the straightforward processes will duplicate its physical properties well.
If you only want a rough chemical match, that's easier.

I would like to earn money by meeting a need. I am a space enthusiast,
and I read that there is a need for lunar simulant. So, I'm
investigating the commercial situation.