Functional Comparison of Lunar Regoliths and Their Simulants
Publication: Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 26, Issue 1
Abstract
Lunar regolith simulants are essential to the development of technology for human exploration of the Moon. Any equipment that will interact with the surface environment must be tested with simulant to mitigate various risks, such as unexpected mechanical abrasion, chemical interactions, or thermal failures. To reduce the greatest amount of risk, the simulant must replicate the lunar surface as well as possible. To quantify the similarities and differences between simulants, the figure of merit (FOM) was developed. The Figure of Merit software compares the simulants and regolith by particle size, particle shape, density, and the relative abundance of minerals, rocks, and glass; these four properties dictate the majority of the remaining characteristics of geologic material. As a result, not only is the risk made quantifiable, but a conceptual framework is established for the evaluation of simulants. There are important limitations in our knowledge and technology pertaining to simulants. Specific examples include a surprising lack of specific, important measurements on lunar samples, the unavoidable presence of nonlunar phases in the simulants, and the limited nature of the FOM.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 26 • Issue 1 • January 2013
Pages: 176 - 182
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 5, 2011
Accepted: Mar 6, 2012
Published online: Mar 8, 2012
Published in print: Jan 1, 2013
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