Compaction trial on lunar regolith simulant

Abstract

NASA’s Artemis program involves inhabiting the Moon’s south pole, which consists of lunar highlands regolith. For successful long-term habitation on the Moon, resilient infrastructure built on lunar regolith will be required. Therefore, it will be essential that the geotechnical characteristics of lunar regolith are quantified and improved, where required, using surface compaction techniques. This study investigates whether lunar highlands simulant could be compacted using a 1:13 scale model impact roller. Surface settlement and density measurements were undertaken to quantify improvement with increasing compactive effort. The results of laboratory testing conducted on lunar highlands simulants are also presented in this paper. The results from this compaction trial indicate that this surface compaction technique can improve the density of lunar highlands simulant, despite it having no moisture.