A Carbonaceous Chondrite Based Simulant of Phobos

• Published in: Earth and Space 2016
• Main Authors: Rickman, D., Patel, M., Pearson, V. K., Wilson, S., Edmunson, J.
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: unknown
• Published: American Society of Civil Engineers 2017
• Subjects: Tagish; Tagish Lake
• Online Access: https://oro.open.ac.uk/56339/; https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784479971.054

In support of an ESA-funded concept study considering a sample return mission, a simulant of the Martian moon Phobos was needed. There are no samples of the Phobos regolith, therefore none of the four characteristics normally used to design a simulant are explicitly known for Phobos. Because of this, specifications for a Phobos simulant were based on spectroscopy, other remote measurements, and judgment. A composition based on the Tagish Lake meteorite was assumed. The requirement that sterility be achieved, especially given the required organic content, was unusual and problematic. The final design mixed JSC-1A, antigorite, pseudo-agglutinates and gilsonite. Sterility was achieved by radiation in a commercial facility.