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, in press.
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
Anna Metke, Makayla Peppin, Alec Ortner – 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: 1108 kg of simulants delivered to 218 customers in 27 countries. 430 kg on order.
Fulfillment times depend on request size and our current queue.
Pricing | Online Request Form
Single type up to 1kg, shipped within the USA: Free (yes, really)
All other requests: $20/kg plus shipping
Sales tax collected for orders shipped to FL and TX (unless tax exempt)
Fill out a request form, or contact exolithlab@ucf.edu for inquiries. Consult the spec sheets below for default particle size ranges, composition, etc.
MGS-1 Mars Global Simulant
Research Paper (PDF) | Spec Sheet (PDF) | Safety Data Sheet (PDF)
Global basaltic soil based on the mineralogy of the Rocknest target at Gale crater.
MGS-1S Sulfate ISRU
Spec Sheet (PDF) | Safety Data Sheet (PDF)
A modified version of MGS-1 based on the polyhydrated sulfate reference case from the NASA Mars Water In-Situ Resource Utilization Study.
MGS-1C Clay ISRU
Spec Sheet (PDF) | Safety Data Sheet (PDF)
A modified version of MGS-1 based on the hydrated clay reference case from the NASA Mars Water In-Situ Resource Utilization Study.
JEZ-1 Jezero Delta Simulant
Spec Sheet (PDF) | Safety Data Sheet (PDF)
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.
LHS-1 Lunar Highlands Simulant
Spec Sheet (PDF) | Safety Data Sheet (PDF)
Generic highlands soil with a particle size distribution based on Apollo 16 samples.
LMS-1 Lunar Mare Simulant
Spec Sheet (PDF) | Safety Data Sheet (PDF)
High-Ti mare soil with a particle size distribution based on Apollo samples.
CI Asteroid Simulant
Spec Sheet (PDF) | Safety Data Sheet (PDF)
Based on the mineralogy of the Orgueil CI carbonaceous chondrite. Highest volatile content of our three asteroid simulants.
CM Asteroid Simulant
Spec Sheet (PDF) | Safety Data Sheet (PDF)
Based on the mineralogy of the Murchison CM carbonaceous chondrite. Moderate volatile content.
CR Asteroid Simulant
Spec Sheet (PDF) | Safety Data Sheet (PDF)
Based on an average mineralogy of 5 Antarctic CR carbonaceous chondrites. Lowest volatile content of our three asteroid simulants.
