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2010•Journal of Aerospace EngineeringRequires access

Geotechnical Properties of NT-LHT-2M Lunar Highland Simulant

Xiangwu Zeng, Chunmei He, Allen Wilkinson

Open publisher page 68 citations

Abstract

Future lunar explorations require a thorough understanding of the geotechnical properties of lunar soils. However, the small amount of lunar soil that was brought back to earth cannot satisfy the needs. A new lunar soil simulant, NU-LHT-2M, has been developed to simulate lunar regolith in the lunar highlands region. It is characterized to help the development of regolith-moving machines and vehicles that will be used in future missions to the moon. The simulant’s particle size distribution, specific gravity, maximum and minimum densities, compaction characteristics, shear strength parameters and compressibility have been studied; and the results are compared with the information about lunar regolith provided in the Lunar Sourcebook.

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What this paper is about

Future lunar explorations require a thorough understanding of the geotechnical properties of lunar soils. However, the small amount of lunar soil that was brought back to earth cannot satisfy the needs. A new lunar soil simulant, NU-LHT-2M, has been developed to simulate lunar regolith in the lunar highlands region. It is characterized to help the development of regolith-moving machines and vehicles that will be used in future missions to the moon. The simulant’s particle size distribution, specific gravity, maximum and minimum densities, compaction characteristics, shear strength parameters and compressibility have been studied; and the results are compared with the information about lunar regolith provided in the Lunar Sourcebook.

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OpenAlex reports 68 citations for this work. Citation counts describe recorded attention and do not establish research quality.

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Available abstract

Future lunar explorations require a thorough understanding of the geotechnical properties of lunar soils. However, the small amount of lunar soil that was brought back to earth cannot satisfy the needs. A new lunar soil simulant, NU-LHT-2M, has been developed to simulate lunar regolith in the lunar highlands region. It is characterized to help the development of regolith-moving machines and vehicles that will be used in future missions to the moon. The simulant’s particle size distribution, specific gravity, maximum and minimum densities, compaction characteristics, shear strength parameters and compressibility have been studied; and the results are compared with the information about lunar regolith provided in the Lunar Sourcebook.

Key concepts: Regolith, Lunar soil, Lunar orbit, Astrobiology, Shear strength (soil), Geology, Compaction, Geotechnical engineering

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