About Us
Get in touch: exolithlab@ucf.edu
The Exolith Lab is a not for profit extension of CLASS, dedicated to regolith simulant production and applied research. Simulant costs cover materials, facilities, and labor.
We also maintain the Planetary Simulant Database as a resource for the community, with information on historic and current planetary simulants. We are happy to provide free consulting on simulants, in partnership with the ESA Sample Analogue Curation Facility.
What is Simulated?. A brief fact sheet on what our simulants do and don’t emulate about the extraterrestrial regoliths they’re based on.
Plant Growth in Simulants. Some tips for growing plants based on initial experiments by simulant users.
Recent Publications & Use Cases
Metzger, P. T., D. T. Britt, S. Covey, C. Schultz, K. M. Cannon, K. D. Grossman, J. G. Mantovani, and R. P. Mueller (2019), Measuring the fidelity of asteroid regolith and cobble simulants. Icarus, 321, 632-646.
Boivin, A. L., D. Hickson, C‐A Tsai, A. Cunje, R. R. Ghent, and M. Daly (2018), Broadband measurements of the complex permittivity of carbonaceous asteroid regolith analog materials. JGR Planets, 123, 3088-3104
Cannon, K. M., D. T. Britt, T. M. Smith, R. F. Fritsche, and D. Batcheldor (2019), Mars Global Simulant MGS-1: A Rocknest-based Open Standard for Basaltic Martian Regolith Simulants. Icarus, 317, 470-478.
People
Dr. Kevin Cannon – Founder, simulant development, operations
Prof. Dan Britt – CLASS PI
Makayla Peppin, Alex Perruci – Undergraduate Researchers
High-fidelity Regolith Simulants
The martian, lunar and asteroid simulants listed below are currently available for research and STEM education purposes. We are open to collaborative projects and teaming on proposals, and can provide letters of support.
Current stats: 1475 kg of simulants delivered to 257 customers in 28 countries. 262 kg on order.
Fulfillment times depend on request size and our current queue.
Y-series Exploration Simulants | Online Request Form
The Y-series is a group of specialty simulants with an exploration focus. Because of challenges with production and shipping, these materials are only distributed within the United States and have special restrictions that are listed below.
Fill out a request form, or contact exolithlab@ucf.edu for inquiries. Consult the spec sheets below for more information. Sales tax collected for orders shipped to FL and TX (unless tax exempt).
DUST-Y Silicate Dust Simulant
DUST-Y is a physical silicate dust simulant with particle sizes dominated by the 1-10 micron fraction. It is appropriate for the Moon or Mars, and particles are angular due to the rapid crushing used in its production.
We have a very small supply of DUST-Y, and currently cannot handle large (>10 kg) requests.
| Pricing | Spec Sheet | SDS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| $20/kg |  |
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FROST-Y Lunar Volatile-Rich Simulant
FROST-Y is a frozen, contaminated ice-bearing lunar simulant. It replicates highlands regolith in the permanently shadowed regions of the Moon, and is appropriate for testing ISRU extraction and purification processes.
FROST-Y is shipped frozen, and there are extra shipping charges to cover the cost of insulated boxes and freezer packs
| Pricing | Spec Sheet | SDS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| $20/kg | |
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Bulk Simulants | Online Request Form
Our bulk simulants are available worldwide in any amount.
Fill out a request form, or contact exolithlab@ucf.edu for inquiries. Consult the spec sheets below for default particle size ranges, composition, etc. Sales tax collected for orders shipped to FL and TX (unless tax exempt).
Pilot study pricing: up to 1 kg of a single bulk simulant type is available for free within the United States as a one-time offer.
MGS-1 Mars Global Simulant
Global basaltic soil based on the mineralogy of the Rocknest target at Gale crater.
| Pricing | Spec Sheet | SDS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| $20/kg | |
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MGS-1S Sulfate ISRU
A modified version of MGS-1 based on the polyhydrated sulfate reference case from the NASA Mars Water In-Situ Resource Utilization Study.
| Pricing | Spec Sheet | SDS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| $20/kg | |
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MGS-1C Clay ISRU
A modified version of MGS-1 based on the hydrated clay reference case from the NASA Mars Water In-Situ Resource Utilization Study.
| Pricing | Spec Sheet | SDS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| $20/kg | |
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JEZ-1 Jezero Delta Simulant
Represents the olivine-clay-carbonate mineral assemblage observed in the Jezero crater delta deposits to be investigated by the Mars 2020 rover. Mineral abundances constrained by orbital remote sensing and are mixed with MGS-1 as the base material.
| Pricing | Spec Sheet | SDS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| $20/kg | |
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LHS-1 Lunar Highlands Simulant
Generic highlands soil with a particle size distribution based on Apollo 16 samples.
| Pricing | Spec Sheet | SDS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| $20/kg | |
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LMS-1 Lunar Mare Simulant
Moderate-Ti mare soil with a particle size distribution based on Apollo samples.
| Pricing | Spec Sheet | SDS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| $20/kg | |
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CI Asteroid Simulant
Based on the mineralogy of the Orgueil CI carbonaceous chondrite. Highest volatile content of our three asteroid simulants.
| Pricing | Spec Sheet | SDS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| $20/kg | |
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