Lunar Highland Simulant
(LRS-H)
Highlands are between the oldest regions on the Lunar surfaces. They are mostly composed by anothositic material and therefore rich of elements such as Al and Si. Highlands are found all around the Moon, including on the polar regions. Thus, highland regolith will play a key role in future robotic and human lunar exploration.
Simulant specifications
Simulant name | LRS Lunar Highland Simulant |
Simulant type | Basic/Standard |
Reference material | Apollo avarage highland samples |
Mean particle size | 75 µm |
Particle size range | <10 – 1400 µm |
Major elements chemestry
Oxide | Ref. MIN [wt%] | Ref. MAX [wt%] | LRS-M [wt%] |
SiO2 | 41.9 | 45.3 | 47.67 |
Al2O3 | 28.0 | 35.6 | 28.28 |
FeO | 0.2 | 5.9 | 2.74 |
MnO | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.04 |
MgO | 0.3 | 5.1 | 1.49 |
CaO | 16.3 | 20.4 | 14.44 |
Na2O | 0.2 | 0.4 | 2.49 |
K2O | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.35 |
TiO2 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.46 |
P2O5 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.12 |
Mineralogy
Mineral | Abundance [wt%] |
Anorthosite | 80 |
Glass-rich Basalt | 20 |
Minerals Breakdown: | |
Anorthite albite | 78.56 |
Pyroxene | 4.10 |
Olivine | 0.96 |
Alkali feldspar | 2.72 |
Other silicates | 9.02 |
Others | 4.64 |
Particle size distribution
Trace elements
Element | Abundance [wt%] |
Cr | 0.0608 |
Mn | 0.0277 |
Co | 0.0031 |
Ni | 0.0198 |
Zn | 0.0000 |
As | 0.0000 |
Rb | 0.0004 |
Sr | 0.0221 |
Zr | 0.0034 |
Nb | 0.0000 |
Mo | 0.0004 |
Ba | 0.0000 |
W | 0.0055 |
Hg | 0.0003 |
Ta | 0.0023 |
Tl | 0.0003 |