Martian regolith simulant

The palagonitic tephra, which is glassy volcanic ash altered at low temperature, was mined from a quarry at the Pu'u Nene cinder cone.

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center contracted Orbital Technologies Corporation to supply 16 metric tons of lunar and Martian simulants.

Tests show that the maximum compressive and flexural strength of the 'martian' geopolymer is comparable to that of common clay bricks.

While JSC Mars-1 did simulate the color of Martian regolith, it performed poorly in many qualities, including its hygroscopic tendencies—it had undergone weathering that attracts water, making it more clay-like.

MMS, however, was hygroscopically inert due to minimal weathering and the way it was crushed, which allowed it to better simulate that feature of Martian regolith, among others.

MMS was found naturally as whole rocks in a volcanic formation near the town of Boron, California, in the western Mojave Desert.

Exposure to regolith simulants may pose some health risks due to the fine particles and the presence of crystalline silica.