Production of Synthetic Lunar Simulants

Zybek Advanced Products has proven the ability to produce industrial quantities of lunar simulant materials, including glass, agglutinate and melt breccias. These are critical components in the NU-LHT-series and OB1 lunar simulants. The feed stock for this simulant is a mining industry by-product. The feedstock contains many contaminates, may not always be available, and can be inconsistent. Although the standard lunar simulant produced from the mineral industry byproduct feedstock is useful for some applications, many projects require a simulant with a higher fidelity. This project provides the means to produce individual components that are not available from terrestrial sources. These components can be mixed in different proportions to determine the effect on a particular process. The basic theory of the innovation is to mix known industrial ingredients, bring to molten temperatures, allow time for full reaction (in molten state), and then control the cooling rate to cause re-crystallization. These components are readily available and can be processed at multi-ton rates in the plasma melter.