JHU-APL LSII Simulant Project
Testing technologies under realistic scenarios and relevant lunar conditions is an integral part of the technology maturation cycle. Furthermore, technologies that will derive resources in-situ from the surface of the Moon will require testing under lunar conditions using simulants of lunar regolith. However, all lunar simulants are approximations of lunar regolith that do not reproduce all of the characteristics that lunar regolith exhibits in-situ on the Moon.
The Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative (LSII) team at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU-APL) is tasked with providing an independent assessment of lunar simulants to provide guidance and feedback to NASA and the lunar research community. This process will be repeated annually and those reports will be posted here for members of the Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium (LSIC) as well as on the LSIC public website (http://lsic.jhuapl.edu) for the larger planetary community.
JHU-APL Simulant Team
JHU-APL assembled a team of experienced lunar researchers to lead the lunar simulant assessment effort. These individuals work together to verify and validate lunar regolith simulants to ensure that the difference between simulants and the lunar regolith is fully understood and that the impact these difference would have on technology testing is evaluated and characterized. As new suppliers of simulants or new simulant production techniques emerge, APL will characterize those simulants for potential application to technology testing. The team works closely with the NASA Simulant Advisory Committee to evaluate commercial lunar simulants.
| Team Member |
Role |
Karen Stockstill-Cahill
Planetary Geologist/Spectroscopist |
Lunar Simulant Lead Scientist |
Brett Denvi
Planetary Scientist |
Apollo Sample Consultant
(Former Lunar Simulant Lead Scientist) |
David Blewett
Planetary Geologist |
Camsizer Analysis Lead Scientist |
Angela Stickle
Planetary Scientist/Hypervelocity Impact Physicist |
Lunar Simulant Provider Site Visit Leader |
Anna Martin
Planetary Research Geologist |
Laboratory Analyses Co-Leader |
Carlie Wagoner
Planetary Research Geologist
|
Laboratory Analyses Co-Leader |
NASA LSII Simulant Project
The NASA LSII Simulant Project was formed to advance the state and knowledge of lunar simulants. An overview of NASA's Simulant Project, Simulant Advisory Committee, and simulant usage can be found here: https://ares.jsc.nasa.gov/projects/simulants/
NASA Simulant Advisory Committee
An integral part of NASA's Simulant Project is the Simulant Advisory Committee. Simulant guidance, inquiries, recommendations, and procurement are facilitated through the NASA Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative (LSII) Simulant Advisory Committee. The purpose of the Simulant Advisory Committee is to establish a NASA-wide voice of all things simulants. The committee gives advice on appropriate use and creation of simulants and assists in their production and distribution across NASA, academia, and the private sector. This is a coordinated approach across NASA for simulant development and to support projects' simulant needs with a variety of low-, moderate-, and high-fidelity lunar simulants. The committee will develop guidelines and standards to facilitate consistency and efficiency for simulant use. Additionally, NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) LSII is working with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory’s (APL) Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium (LSIC) to characterize and assess commercial lunar simulants.
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