The international joint "Artemis Project" is attracting attention all over the world.The year 2022 is said to be an outstanding year for the space industry, with the lunar exploration program proposed by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, and the unmanned technology demonstration of Artemis Project Unit 1. increase.Furthermore, the first attempt of the "DART mission" to collide an unmanned spacecraft with an asteroid was also made.
And this year, 2023, could be the “Year of the Lunar Rover,” with multiple lunar explorations planned.
Therefore, this time, we will introduce our ISRU technology (In-Situ Resource Utilization; using locally available resources), Exolith Lab's regolith-like materials for development and hardware testing for lunar and planetary exploration.
About Exolith Labs
Exolith Lab is dedicated to pioneering a sustainable future for space exploration and providing the tools needed to further advance the field.A research institute dedicated to regolith simulants containing microparticles, conducting pseudo-production and applied research on regolith.By providing high-fidelity playback technology, we are a manufacturer that supports researchers and educators around the world and contributes to the development and growth of the universe.
About regolith-like materials
It is known that the soil of the moon, Mars, and asteroids is covered with powdery fine particles. Exolith Lab's regolith is a regolith-like material based on planetary samples from the Moon and Mars, developed in collaboration with NASA and Deep Space Industries.
The use of regolith leads to Space Environment and Resource Utilization (ISRU).Due to its low cost, rational and safe verification, it is being used in a wide variety of fields such as science, exploration, construction, biological and engineering simulations.
Examples of basic and applied research
- Growing plants (biological knowledge, bioengineering)
- Plasma, physical verification, etc. (fundamental physics research)
- Biological effects of cosmic radiation and ultraviolet rays (space life science)
- Rover for lunar exploration and traveling on soft ground
- Robot technology
- Lunar structural design (materials such as fiberglass, blocks, concrete, etc.)
- 3D printing
- Research on medical issues (harmfulness to the body)
- Electric power, solar cells, etc.
About the planetary substance database
Categories of simulated substances
- General purpose: Designed to match multiple properties (chemical, mineral, geotechnical)
- Geotechnical/Physica: Designed to reproduce geotechnical/physical properties
- Spectral: Designed to match the reflectance or emission spectrum of a reference material
- Magnetic: Designed to replicate magnetic properties
- Unknown: Other
Types of regolith mimics
- Lunar Dust and Volatile-Rich Simulants: Moon Dust and Volatile Matters
- Lunar Highlands Simulants: Lunar Highlands
- Lunar Mare Simulants: Sea of the Moon
- Martian Simulants: Mars
- Asteroid Simulants: Asteroids
- Phobos Simulants: Phobos (Moon of Mars)
- Comet Simulants: Comet
Please refer to the manufacturer's website for details.
Regolith Simulants
https://exolithsimulants.com/collections/regolith-simulants
An example of handling results
Lunar Highlands (LHS-1) High-Fidelity Moon Dirt Simulant
Mineral-based simulants (simulants, soil mimics) suitable for typical lunar highlands targeted to match soil particle size distributions based on Apollo 16 samples.It is composed of several types of minerals found on Earth.The texture of the moon's regolith is also accurately captured by combining mineral and rock fragments in precise proportions.
Specification
Simulant Name: LHS-1 Lunar Highlands Simulant
Simulant Type: General Purpose
Reference materials: Average Lunar highlands
Uncompressed Bulk Density: 1.30 g/cm3
Mean particle size: 90μm
Median Particle Size: 60μm
Particle Size Range: ＜0.04 μm – 1000 μm
Mineralogy
Plagioclase (Anorthosite): 74.4
Glass-rich basalt: 24.7
ilmenites(FeTiO3): 0.4
Pyroxene: 0.3
olivine: 0.2
Geotechnical Properties
Grain Density: 2.75 g/cm3
Void Ratio: 1.1
porosity: 52.7%
Max Angle of Repose: 47.5 °
cohesion: 0.311 kPa
Angle of Internal Friction: 31.49
About handling
The LHS-1 introduced above does not currently simulate agglomerates or nanophase iron particles.There is also an agglutination simulant LHS-1-25A that imitates the agglutination characteristic of intermediate-mature Lunahyland regolith.Custom simulated flocculant mixtures are also available upon request.First of all, we will check whether it can be handled, so please contact us.
In addition, there are various lineups.When contacting us, please let us know the product name and model number you want.When contacting us, please let us know the product name and model number you want.
|
■ Click here for product details and inquiries
|
