Joined: Jul 2011 Gender: Male Posts: 123 Location: Aliso Viejo
McConnell's Custom Made Lunar Regolith Simulant « Thread Started on Jan 4, 2012, 2:21am »
So I am currently working on mixing my own Lunar Regolith Simulant. The finished product will be treated so that the water molecules are excited and removed from the mixture and then it will be vacuum packed. The simulant itself will be tested and treated to closely match lunar soil mechanics based on the Apollo 11 photos. It will be inspected for even the smallest particles that show signs of weathering and they will be removed and the simulant retreated.
Three Models will be made: Simulant A : Highlands Region Lunar Regolith Simulant B: Mare Region Lunar Regolith Simulant C: Ejecta Blanket Lunar Regolith
The simulant was started just today and so far it's doing pretty well. I'm even thinking of learning a way to impregnate it with 40% oxygen (like real Regolith) and static charge. If I was able, I would think of a way to subject it to solar exposure, but it's unlikely.
The fully mixed, tested and treated simulant is currently planned to sell for $15 dollars per 1 cup. If anybody thinks that's too much, let me know.
Your newest lunar experiment product salesman, Vincent.
PS: Neil and Buzz said that regolith smells like gunpowder, my simulant will go as far as to match the smell of regolith.
Re: McConnell's Custom Made Lunar Regolith Simulan « Reply #4 on Jan 4, 2012, 4:58pm »
Unless it comes with its own vacuum chamber, rather than just being vacuum packed, its usage would be very limited, eg photographic stuff..
Much of its behavior (eg taking footprints, clumping, trajectory when disturbed, etc) was determined by being in a vacuum and in 1/6 g, not to mention the other 'moon-only' characteristics..
Unless it comes with its own vacuum chamber, rather than just being vacuum packed, its usage would be very limited, eg photographic stuff..
Much of its behavior (eg taking footprints, clumping, trajectory when disturbed, etc) was determined by being in a vacuum and in 1/6 g, not to mention the other 'moon-only' characteristics..
It can also be used to test equipment that may be used on later missions to the moon. If I can more accurately fake regolith than Johnson Space Center can, NASA may buy my simulant.
The simulant was started just today and so far it's doing pretty well. I'm even thinking of learning a way to impregnate it with 40% oxygen (like real Regolith) and static charge. If I was able, I would think of a way to subject it to solar exposure, but it's unlikely.
Lunar soil is not "impregnated with 40% oxygen," but you might have read that that is either the molar or mass fraction of oxygen bound up in the molecules that form the soil and rock (I am guessing predominantly oxides of silicon and iron but I am no expert).
I think you may underestimate the amount of work required to match all of lunar soil's properties. However, if the goal is more specific...
It can also be used to test equipment that may be used on later missions to the moon. If I can more accurately fake regolith than Johnson Space Center can, NASA may buy my simulant.
... then you might be able to match only the relevant physical properties. For example, for testing machinery, the simulant's hardness and abrasive qualities would be much more important than its smell or color. How do you propose removing all traces of weathering down to the microscopic level for a macroscopic quantity of material?
Re: McConnell's Custom Made Lunar Regolith Simulan « Reply #8 on Jan 5, 2012, 9:46am »
Vince, I think you significantly underestimate the difficulty of making an accurate lunar regolith simulant. There's a reason the stuff is so expensive.
In fact, it's so difficult to mimic all of the properties of real lunar regolith that multiple types of simulant are made, each with only a subset of the properties of the real stuff. You pick the type with the properties you need for your particular test or experiment.
If you're really serious about this, I suggest that you purchase small samples of commercial simulant. I have two that I got several years ago. Take a look at them under a microscope and see what the grains look like. I think you'll find it much more difficult to match it than you think.
I don't recognize "Is it known to rip off a human's head and spit down his neck?" from Blade Runner. And with this crowd, if its something outrageous and not Monty Python, its probably Red Dwarf.
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