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 of JSC-1A (a clone of JSC-1) for NASA at a custom facility, an effort coordinated through an SBIR grant to Orbitec. Another 15 tons of JSC-1A and 100 kg of JSC-1AF (the finest 20% fraction of JSC-1A, mean particle size 25 μm) were produced for Orbitec. 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.
Images
Photograph of JSC-1A: