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Hill et al. 2007
Hill, E., Mellin, M.J., Deane, B., Liu, Y. and Taylor, L.A. (2007). Apollo sample 70051 and high- and low-Ti lunar soil simulants MLS-1A and JSC-1A: Implications for future lunar exploration. Journal of Geophysical Research 112: doi: 10.1029/2006JE002767. issn: 0148-0227.

Plans for establishment of a manned lunar base make it imperative that considerable research be performed on the use of lunar rocks and soil for in situ resource utilization (ISRU). Samples and simulants of lunar soil must be established for these studies. We present here the bulk and mineral chemistries of unusual Apollo 17 sample 70051, the 80 % of particles >50 5m, and a constrained range of particle sizes (~50% of particles are 50--100 5m in size) when compared to typical Apollo 17 soils (e.g., 71501,1 has ~20% of particles in the 50--100 5m range). Plagioclase, present in rock fragments and as mineral fragments (up to sizes ~1 mm), is the main phase present (50.5 vol%). Simulant JSC-1A has a chemistry that is atypical for most of the Moon and contains 49.3 vol% glass. Simulant MLS-1A resembles the FeO, TiO2 and Al2O3 contents of mare basalt soils. Both lunar soil simulants have specific properties for certain in situ resource utilization studies, however, neither fully matches both the physical and chemical characteristics of lunar soil. Sample 70051, as a 1.4-kg haphazard mixture of lunar soil particles, is probably the best of the Apollo "soil" samples to be allocated for various ISRU investigations, where the uniqueness of lunar soils is deemed a necessity for study.

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Abstract

Keywords
Geochemistry, Composition of the moon, Mineralogy and Petrology, Planetary mineralogy and petrology, Planetary Sciences, Solid Surface Planets, Surface materials and properties, Planetary Sciences, Solar System Objects, Moon, General or Miscellaneous, New fields (not classifiable under other headings)
Journal
Journal of Geophysical Research
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Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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