Planetary Simulant Database
Free Resource for Regolith Simulant Information
Mineralogy
This is the mineralogy for bulk BP-1; separate splits give somewhat different values.
Mineral | Weight % |
---|---|
Labradorite | 60.7 |
Augite | 23.7 |
Olivine | 6.2 |
Magnetite | 3.0 |
Calcite | 2.7 |
Hematite | 2.0 |
Quartz | 1.7 |
Bulk Chemistry
Two samples from the west and east of the flow are given by Stoeser et al. (2010):
Oxide | W172158 | W172154 |
---|---|---|
SiO2 | 47.2 | 46.9 |
TiO2 | 2.3 | 2.2 |
Al2O3 | 16.7 | 16.4 |
FeO | 6.2 | 3.7 |
Fe2O3 | 5.9 | 8.2 |
MgO | 6.5 | 5.6 |
CaO | 9.2 | 9.6 |
Na2O | 3.5 | 3.4 |
K2O | 1.1 | 1.1 |
MnO | 0.21 | 0.21 |
P2O5 | 0.52 | 0.51 |
H2O- | 0.11 | 0.51 |
H2O+ | 0.41 | 0.69 |
CO2 | 0.05 | 0.26 |
Total | 99.90 | 99.28 |
Physical Properties
Property | Value |
---|---|
Specific gravity | 2.81 |
Minimum density | 1.43 g/cm3 |
Maximum density | 1.86 g/cm3 |
Peak angle of friction | 39-51° |
Cohesion | 0-2.0 kPa |
BP-1 Black Point
Simulant Name: BP-1 Black Point
Availability: May Be Available
Fidelity: Basic
Developed By: Kennedy Space Center
Available From: N/A
Publications: Stoeser, D. B. et al. (2010), Preliminary Geological Findings on the BP-1 Simulant. NASA/TM-2010-216444.
The BP-1 simulant was somewhat of an accident: during field work in Arizona, Jack Schmidt identified a silty deposit derived from the Black Point lava as having very similar physical properties to lunar soils. These deposits are leftovers (basically tailings) from gravel processing. The lava flow is fairly alkaline and becomes more brown and oxidized east of where the quarry for BP-1 is located.
BP-1 is a geotechnical simulant, in that its mineralogy and chemistry were not selected or modified to be similar to any known lunar samples. Because it is derived from basalt, the simulant is more similar to mare soils, but the plagioclase content is fairly high.
45 kg of material were initially brought back to KSC, and BP-1 seems to have been used extensively in robotic mining competitions there. It is unclear what the current status of this simulant is.
Images
Photograph of BP-1: