NASA has Simulated a Tiny Piece of the Moon Here on Earth By Nancy_A
The testbeds aren’t huge, but big enough to provide a variety of conditions. The first original sandbox measures approximately 13 feet by 13 feet by 1.5 feet and is filled with eight tons a lunar regolith simulant called Johnson Space Center One simulant , which makes this the world’s largest collection of the material. The JSC-1A simulant mimics the Moon’s mare basins and is dark grey in color.
Some of the things tested are how various tools and rovers work in the incredibly abrasive and “sticky” regolith. Moon dust has grains as fine as powder, but it can also be sharp as tiny shards of glass. In addition, it has the annoying ability to electrostatically cling to everything. “When rovers and astronauts carry out missions at the lunar South Pole, they’ll have to navigate in low-angle lighting and overcome harsh solar glare that makes it difficult to see,”“Because the Sun will never rise overhead, even the smallest rock or crater will cast long shadows and cloak craters in darkness. And, at times, the Sun will blaze at eye-level as it reflects off the soil.”
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