Planetary Simulant Database
Free Resource for Regolith Simulant Information
Mineralogy
The following mineralogy was reported as a CIPW norm in Zheng et al. 2009, and does not account for the glass content (20-40%).
| Mineral | Volume % |
|---|---|
| Anorthite | 56.28 |
| Hypersthene | 14.6 |
| Olivine | 8.18 |
| Diopside | 7.74 |
| Orthoclase | 7.24 |
| Magnetite | 3.03 |
| Ilmenite | 2.33 |
| Apatite | 0.65 |
Bulk Chemistry
| Oxide | Wt.% |
|---|---|
| SiO2 | 49.24 |
| TiO2 | 1.91 |
| Al2O3 | 15.80 |
| FeO | 11.47 |
| MnO | 0.14 |
| MgO | 8.72 |
| CaO | 7.25 |
| Na2O | 3.08 |
| K2O | 1.03 |
| P2O5 | 0.3 |
| LOI | 0.52 |
| Total | 99.46 |
Physical Properties
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Mean grain size | 85.9 μm |
| Internal friction angle | 33.3° |
| Cohesion | 1.0 kPa |
CAS-1 Chinese Academy of Sciences
Simulant Name: CAS-1 Chinese Academy of Sciences
Availability: May Be Available
Fidelity: Standard
Developed By: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Available From: N/A
Publications: Zheng, Y. et al. (2009), CAS-1 lunar soil simulant. Advances in Space Research, 43, 448-454.
CAS-1 is a general purpose, lunar low-Ti mare simulant designed to match the mineralogy and chemistry of Apollo 14 regolith samples. It is composed of scoria from a 2 m-thick layer of Sihai pyroclastics (Jinlongdingzi Volcano, Jilin Province, China).
The scoria is about 50% porous and consists of ~20-40% glass, and crystalline pyroxene, olivine and plagioclase. This scoria was ground and mixed to produce the CAS-1 simulant, giving it a particle size distribution consistent with Apollo 14/15 soils.
CAS-1 seems to have been somewhat widely used by China’s Lunar Exploration Program, but the amount produced and its current status is unknown.
