Exolith Simulant: UCF/DSI CI Carbonaceous Chondrite Simulant
Mineralogy
| Mineral | Wt.% |
|---|---|
| Mg-serpentine | 51.3 |
| Magnetite | 10.0 |
| Vermiculite | 9.6 |
| Olivine | 7.0 |
| Pyrite | 7.0 |
| Attapulgite | 5.3 |
| Sub-bituminous coal | 5.0 |
| Ferrihydrite | 4.8 |
Bulk Chemistry
| Oxide | Wt.% |
|---|---|
| SiO2 | 25.0 |
| TiO2 | 0.5 |
| Al2O3 | 3.1 |
| Cr2O3 | 0.2 |
| FeOT | 25.8 |
| MgO | 30.2 |
| CaO | 3.0 |
| Na2O | 6.4 |
| K2O | 0.4 |
| P2O5 | 0.4 |
| SO3 | 4.9 |
| Cl | 0.0 |
| Total | 100.2 |
Physical Properties
No data available
Simulant Name: UCF/DSI CI Carbonaceous Chondrite Simulant (UCF/DSI-CI-2)
Current Status: Currently available
Developed By: UCF & Deep Space Industries
Available From: ExolithSimulants.com
Spec Sheet: CI Spec Sheet
Publications: Britt et al., Simulated asteroid materials based on carbonaceous chondrite mineralogies, manuscript in preparation
Current Status: Currently available
Developed By: UCF & Deep Space Industries
Available From: ExolithSimulants.com
Spec Sheet: CI Spec Sheet
Publications: Britt et al., Simulated asteroid materials based on carbonaceous chondrite mineralogies, manuscript in preparation
The UCF/DSI CI Carbonaceous Chondrite Simulant (also known as UCF/DSI-CI-2) is a general purpose asteroid regolith simulant based on the Orgueil CI carbonaceous chondrite. The mineralogy is based on the analysis by Bland et al. 2004.
To produce the simulant, individual mineral components are sourced and prepared, then mixed together with water to physically bind them. The resulting mixture is dried to remove the water, then mechanically ground in a rock crusher to achieve the desired particle size distribution.
The simulant was produced as part of a NASA SBIR grant to create realistic asteroid simulants, and is currently available from the CLASS Exolith Lab.
Images
Photograph of the CI simulant:
