Ordering more than 200Kg? Schedule a Simulant consultation today!
Schedule NowView Simulant Report
All Exolith Lab products are intended for research and STEM education purposes. By purchasing, you agree that the product will be used for research and STEM education purposes.
Developed By: University of Central Florida
Available From: CLASS Exolith Lab
Publications: Cannon, K. M., D. T. Britt, T. M. Smith, R. F. Fritsche, and D. Batcheldor (2019), Mars Global Simulant MGS-1: A Rocknest-based Open Standard for Basaltic Martian Regolith Simulants. Icarus, 317, 470-478.
MGS-1C is a modified version of the root MGS-1 simulant, and is enriched in hydrated clay minerals (smectite). This represents the Reference Case “C” in the NASA Mars Water In-Situ Resource Utilization Study.
MGS-1C is specifically designed for ISRU water extraction studies; the M-WIP study concluded that hydrated clay deposits are advantageous for water extraction on Mars, and may be much easier to access and excavate than permafrost deposits.
Mineralogy
| Mineral | Wt.% |
|---|---|
| Smectite | 40.0 |
| Plagioclase | 16.4 |
| Glass-rich basalt | 13.7 |
| Pyroxene | 12.2 |
| Olivine | 8.2 |
| Mg-sulfate | 2.4 |
| Ferrihydrite | 2.1 |
| Hydrated silica | 1.8 |
| Magnetite | 1.1 |
| Anhydrite | 1.0 |
| Fe-carbonate | 0.8 |
| Hematite | 0.3 |
Bulk Chemistry
| Oxide | Wt% |
| SiO2 | 44.8 |
| Al2O3 | 9.8 |
| CaO | 15.3 |
| Fe2O3 | 12 |
| K2O | 3.4 |
| MgO | 9.9 |
| MnO | 0.1 |
| P2O5 | 1 |
| TiO2 | 0.4 |
| SO3 | 2.3 |
| Cl | 0.5 |
| Cr2O3 | 0.1 |
| NiO | 0.1 |
| SrO | 0.2 |
| Total | 99.9 |
Physical Properties
Particle size range: 0-1 mm
Mean particle size (by volume): 24 μm
Photo Credit: Matthew Villegas, Exolith Lab