Development and Geotechnical Engineering Properties of KLS-1 Lunar Simulant

Byung-Hyun Ryu,Ilhan Chang,Cheng-Can Wang

doi:10.1061/(asce)as.1943-5525.0000798

Abstract

AbstractLunar exploration, which slowed in the 21st century after the Apollo program, has seen more activity recently with the participation of Asian countries such as Japan, China, and India. Beca...

Highlights

With the growing importance of space development and the reported shortage of water and He-3, advanced countries such as the United States and Russia as well as emerging economies such as those of Europe, China, India, and Japan have actively engaged in space and lunar exploration missions
In terms of chemical composition, this study focused on matching the total iron (Fe) content (FeO þ Fe2O3) of the developed Korean lunar simulant with that of actual lunar soil
Various lunar soil simulants have been developed by different countries and organizations using terrestrial materials to represent the physical and chemical properties of real lunar soils

Summary

Introduction

With the growing importance of space development and the reported shortage of water and He-3, advanced countries such as the United States and Russia as well as emerging economies such as those of Europe, China, India, and Japan have actively engaged in space and lunar exploration missions. Basic research for the development of a reliable Korean lunar simulant (KLS-1) was carried out through a series of experimental verifications with Apollo samples and common lunar simulants (JSC-1 and FJS-1) via chemical composition, particle-size distribution, specific gravity, and shear properties (friction angle and cohesion) analyses and comparisons. The interparticle cohesion value of FJS-1 simulant (c 1⁄4 3–8.4 kPa) was higher than the typical range (c 1⁄4 0.3–2.1 kPa) of real lunar soils, whereas KLS-1 and JSC-1 showed high similarity in both interparticle. The three lunar simulants had similar particle shapes, angularity, and particle-size distributions (Fig. 3), the color of the lunar simulants became darker in order KLS-1 [Fig. 7(e)] → FJS-1 [Fig. 7(c)] → JSC-1 [Fig. 7(a)] This distinction can be traced to the crushing method, the presence of volcanic ash, and plasma processing. To develop a more precise and reliable Korean lunar simulant, further research to develop an advanced Korean lunar simulant with enhanced FeO content via plasma treatment or other methods is recommended

Findings

Discussion

Conclusions