Technical Paper
Dissolution Chemistry of Minnesota Lunar Simulant
1993-07-01
932243
Conversion of lunar regolith into a plant growth medium is crucial to the development of a regenerative life support system for a lunar base. Plants, which are the core of such a system, are a source of food and oxygen for humans and a sink for carbon dioxide and other wastes. Because of the the shortage of lunar regolith, simulants were used for examining its suitability for plant growth. Dissolution studies of Minnesota Lunar Simulant (MLS), a prepared finely-ground basalt, were conducted to measure solution species, to assess the levels of plant nutrients and toxic elements, and to identify the minerals controlling these levels. MLS weathered in shaker flasks over a 150 d period yielded basic solutions of pH near 9.0 buffered by calcite. Most elemental concentrations were within the range for typical alkaline terrestrial soil solutions.
