Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has attained a patent for its process of manufacturing artificial moon soil on Earth.?
As per the patent application, the process is cost-effective as well as easily replicable for large scale use.
The lunar soil simulant can be used for future scientific explorations by the Indian space agency. While it can prove helpful to study the mechanical properties of lunar soil itself, the simulant can also be used to control the mobility of a lunar rover for practice.
ISRO was able to make the simulant in bulk out of rock samples from Sittampundi Anorthosite Complex, near Salem, Tamil Nadu. As per the patent application, the process of manufacturing has satisfied all aspects of lunar soil simulant, including mineralogy, grain size distribution, bulk chemistry and geo-mechanical properties.
In addition to conducting experiments on mobility on the lunar surface, the simulant can also be used to study the viability of creating structures on the moon.
Interestingly, ISRO¡¯s now patented process is able to replicate the highland lunar soil. Highlands are the treacherous areas on the surface of the moon with craters and mountains. While they encompass more than 80 percent of the moon¡¯s surface, not many of the lunar soil simulants produced by other countries replicate its behaviour. Instead, those are based on soil found in the mare or the flat areas of the moon.
ISRO¡¯s lunar soil simulant thus comes as a unique product at a cost which makes it very easy for the Indian space agency to replicate it on a large scale. The future lunar missions by ISRO, thus will be making use of the simulant for training on Earth. By the time the Chandrayaan-3 takes flight as ISRO¡¯s third lunar expedition, the lunar soil simulant might just prove its worth with its success.