Planetary Simulant Database
Free Resource for Regolith Simulant Information
Mineralogy
This mineralogy is for JSC-1A, the most recent iteration of this simulant
| Mineral | Abundance (%) |
|---|---|
| Glass | 49.3 |
| Plagioclase | 37.1 |
| Olivine | 9.0 |
| Cr-spinel | 1.1 |
| Ti-magnetite | 0.4 |
| K-silicate | 1.4 |
| Sulfide | 1.0 |
| Albite | 0.3 |
| Quartz | 0.2 |
| Chlorite | 0.1 |
| Apatite | <0.1 |
| Clinopyroxene | <0.1 |
| Ilmenite | <0.1 |
Bulk Chemistry
This bulk chemistry is also for JSC-1A.
| Oxide | Wt. % |
|---|---|
| SiO2 | 47.4 |
| TiO2 | 1.56 |
| Al2O3 | 16.1 |
| Fe2O3 | 11.4 |
| MnO | 0.18 |
| MgO | 7.72 |
| CaO | 10.5 |
| Na2O | 2.94 |
| K2O | 0.80 |
| P2O5 | 0.59 |
| Cr2O3 | 0.03 |
| LOI | 0.3 |
| Total | 99.6 |
Physical Properties
These properties are from the original JSC-1 simulant.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Mean grain size | 81-105 μm |
| Median grain size | 98-117 μm |
| Specific gravity | 2.9 |
| Internal friction angle | 45° |
| Cohesion | 1.0 kPa |
Johnson Space Center JSC-1/1A/1AF/1AC/2A
Simulant Name: JSC-1/1A/1AF/1AC/2A Johnson Space Center
Availability: May Be Available
Fidelity: Standard
Developed By: Dave McKay & James Carter
Available From: N/A
Publications: McKay, D. S. et al. (1994), JSC-1: A New Lunar Soil Simulant. Engineering, Construction, and Operations in Space IV American Society of Civil Engineers, 857-866
The JSC-1 series is one of the best known simulants ever produced. It is a general use, low-Ti mare simulant made from volcanic ash in the San Francisco volcano field near Flagstaff, AZ. It contains a high glass fraction and is chemically similar to Apollo sample 14163. The ash was mined from a commercial cinder quarry and used to make the original JSC-1. 21.7 tons were produced by Dr. James Carter at a mill in Arizona.
After the original JSC-1 batch ran out, Dr. Carter produced another 16 tons at a custom facility, an effort coordinated through an SBIR grant to Orbitec. This included 14 tons of JSC-1A (a clone of JSC-1), and one ton each of JSC-1AF (the finest 20% fraction of JSC-1A, mean particle size 25 μm) and JSC-1AC (coarse version, up to 5 mm particles). A prototype of JSC-1A-VF (very fine) was also produced. As of 2018, the Orbitec simulant website is offline and JSC-1A is no longer commercially available. However, there are references to a JSC-2A produced by Zybek that was a replica of JSC-1A. It isn’t clear whether this product is still available. Dr. Carter intends to re-start production of JSC-1 later in 2018.
Images
Photograph of JSC-1A:
