DEVELOPING AN ANORTHOSITIC LUNAR REGOLITH SIMULANT

摘要

We should increase our understanding of planetary regoliths because future human missions to both the Moon and Mars will rely on these surface materials for in situ resource utilization (ISRU) to produce fuel, water, and other life support and construction materials. There are no natural lunar regolith analogues on Earth, and supplies of existing lunar simulants are currently limited or running out, and they may not be compositionally representative of typical lunar regolith. To date, all major lunar simulants produced have been based on basa however, the bulk of the lunar bedrock - including some potential ISRU landing sites (for example, much of the south polar region) is dominated by anorthosite-suite rocks and Mg-suite (norite-troctolite-gabbro) rocks. Therefore, it is particularly important to gain an understanding of the physical/mechanical behavior of anorthositic regolith. To prepare for upcoming robotic ISRU missions, equipment must be tested on the Earth using viable physical/mechanical simulants. The goal of this study is to develop an anorthosite-based physical/mechanical lunar regolith simulant, in order to assist Electric Vehicle Controllers (EVC) Ltd. and the Northern Centre for Advanced Technology (NORCAT) Inc. with lunar drilling and excavation equipment design.