Exolith Simulant: LMS-1D Lunar Mare Dust Simulant
Mineralogy
| Component | Wt.% |
|---|---|
| Pyroxene | 32.8 |
| Glass-rich basalt | 32.0 |
| Anorthosite | 19.8 |
| Olivine | 11.1 |
| Ilmenite | 4.3 |
Bulk Chemistry
Because LMS-1D is a mineralogical standard, the bulk chemistry of simulants created from the standard will differ depending on the crystal chemistry of the source minerals used. Below, we report the latest analysis for the production version of LMS-1D.
| Oxide | Wt.% |
|---|---|
| SiO2 | 42.81 |
| TiO2 | 4.62 |
| Al2O3 | 14.13 |
| Cr2O3 | 0.21 |
| FeOT | 7.87 |
| MnO | 0.15 |
| MgO | 18.89 |
| CaO | 5.94 |
| Na2O | 4.92 |
| K2O | 0.57 |
| P2O5 | 0.44 |
| SO3 | 0.11 |
| Total | 100.00 |
Physical Properties
Particle size range: 0-30 μm
Mean particle size (by volume): 7 μm
Bulk density*: 0.7 g/cm3
*Note that bulk density is not an inherent property and depends on the level of compaction
Current Status: Available
Developed By: University of Central Florida
Available From: ExolithSimulants.com
Publications: N/A
The LMS-1D Lunar Mare Dust Simulant has been developed by the CLASS Exolith Lab for dust mitigation experiments and other applications where very fine dust is needed. LMS-1D is made of the same base material as LMS-1, our high-fidelity, mineral-based simulant appropriate for a generic or average mare location on the Moon. The simulant is not made of a single terrestrial lithology, but accurately captures the texture of lunar regolith by combining both mineral and rock fragments (i.e., polymineralic grains) in accurate proportions. This dust simulant contains only particles finer than 30 μm.
