Cleaner Materials (Sep 2025)
Development of a mineralogically replicated Martian regolith simulant informed by Martian meteorites
Abstract
Martian regolith simulants play a critical role in scientific research, payload testing, and in situ resource utilization (ISRU) experiments. However, the absence of actual Martian soil samples limits the accuracy of current simulants in replicating the complex mineralogical and geochemical properties of Martian regolith. Existing Mars simulants lacked comprehensive mineralogical characterization of Martian regolith due to the absence of direct samples available for laboratory analysis, with Martian meteorites serving as the only feasible samples for experimental research on Martian materials thus far. This study introduces BH-Mars-S, a mineralogically replicated Martian regolith simulant, informed by the mineralogical and geochemical characteristics of the typical shergottite Taoudenni 002 micro-region characterization techniques, including electron probe micro-analyzer, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescence, were employed to systematically characterize the primary minerals in meteorite, guiding the selection of analogous single minerals for simulant preparation. The BH-Mars-S simulant comprises carefully selected plagioclase, pyroxene, olivine, and chromite in the proportion of 0.46:0.3:0.22:0.02, closely mirroring the crystal structure, geochemical composition, and bulk properties of the reference meteorite and authentic Martian regolith. The development of BH-Mars-S establishes a sustainable standard for the production of simulant prototypes, offering adjustable granularity and multi-mineral particle proportions. By enabling repeated, high-fidelity ground-based validation without consuming scarce extraterrestrial resources, it serves as a reliable and low-impact substitute for Mars research applications, including rover testing, dust-interaction studies, and ISRU experiments.
Keywords
