Lunar Simulants: JSC-1 is Gone; The Need for New Standardized Root Simulants

A workshop was held in 1991 to evaluate the status of simulated lunar regolith material and to make recommendations on future requirements and production of such material. As an outgrowth of that workshop, a group centered at Johnson Space Center (JSC) teamed with James Carter of the University of Texas at Dallas and Walter Boles of Texas A&M University to produce and distribute a new standardized lunar regolith simulant termed JSC-1. Carter supervised the field collection, shipping, processing, and initial packaging and transportation of JSC-1. Boles stored and distributed JSC-1. About 25 tons were created and distributed to the lunar science and engineer community; none is left for distribution. JSC-1 served an important role in concepts and designs for lunar base and lunar materials processing. Its chemical and physical properties were described by McKay et al., with its geotechnical properties described by Klosky et al.. While other lunar regolith simulants were produced before JSC-1, they were not standardized, and results from tests performed on them were not necessarily equivalent to test results performed on JSC-1. JSC-1 was designed to be chemically, mineralogically, and texturally similar to a mature lunar mare regolith (low titanium). The glass-rich character of JSC-1 (approx. 50%) produced quite different properties compared to other simulants that were made entirely of comminuted crystalline rock, but properties similar to lunar mare near surface regolith.