"Moondust" redirects here. For the 1983 video game, see Moondust (video game). For the album by The Pillows, see Moondust (album).
Buzz Aldrin's bootprint on lunar soilRegolith collected during Apollo 17 mission
Lunar soil is the fine fraction of lunar regolith found on the surface of the Moon and contributes to the Moon's tenuous atmosphere. Lunar soil differs in its origin and properties significantly from terrestrial soil.
As the Moon's fine surface layer, lunar soil is picked up by even weak natural phenomena active at the Moon's surface, allowing it to be part of the Moon's scant atmosphere. It is easily disturbed and poses a significant hazard to exposed equipment and human health. The fine lunar soil is made of sharp and very adhesive particles, with a distinct gunpowder taste and smell. That said, lunar soil is prospected as a lunar resource, particularly for lunar in situ utilization, such as a lunar building material and soil for growing plants on the Moon.
Lunar soil is primarily the result of mechanical weathering. Continual meteoric impacts and bombardment by solar and interstellar charged atomic particles of the lunar surface over billions of years ground the basaltic and anorthositic rock, the regolith of the Moon, into the progressively finer lunar soil. This situation contrasts fundamentally to terrestrial soil formation, mediated by the presence of molecular oxygen (O2), humidity, atmospheric wind, and a robust array of contributing biological processes.
Lunar soil typically refers to only the finer fraction of lunar regolith, which is composed of grains 1 cm in diameter or less, but is often used interchangeably.[1]Lunar dust generally connotes even finer materials than lunar soil. There is no official definition as to what size fraction constitutes "dust"; some place the cutoff at less than 50 μm in diameter, while others put it at less than 10 μm.[citation needed]
^Heiken; Vanniman & French (1991). Lunar Sourcebook. Cambridge University Press. pp. 756. ISBN 978-0-521-33444-0.
Lunarsoil is the fine fraction of lunar regolith found on the surface of the Moon and contributes to the Moon's tenuous atmosphere. Lunarsoil differs...
A Moon landing or lunar landing is the arrival of a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon, including both crewed and robotic missions. The first human-made...
where they would contribute directly to the global economy. Regolith (lunarsoil) is the easiest product to obtain; it can provide radiation and micrometeoroid...
photo-geological map of the lunar surface, and confirming the presence of water molecules in lunarsoil. The U.S. launched the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter...
Lunar water is water that is present on the Moon. Diffuse water molecules in low concentrations can persist at the Moon's sunlit surface, as discovered...
usage among lunar scientists is to ignore that distinction.[citation needed] "Lunar dust" generally connotes even finer materials than lunarsoil, the fraction...
Helium-3 List of Apollo lunar sample displays Lunar ice Lunar Receiving Laboratory Lunar regolith simulant Lunar resources Lunarsoil Orloff, Richard W. (September...
properties of these early simulants were substantially different from actual lunarsoil, and the issues associated with the pervasive, fine-grained, sharp dust...
their full funding is unclear: Soviet crewed lunar programs – The Soviet Union had been pursuing a crewed lunar flyby mission using Soyuz 7K-L1 launched aboard...
sample of lunarsoil to Earth. The 101 grams (3.56 ounces) sample was returned from Mare Fecunditatis. It represented the first successful lunar sample return...
and vaporize components of the lunarsoil. The first products of space weathering that were recognized in lunarsoils were "agglutinates". These are created...
Spacecraft returned lunarsoil samples to Earth from 1972 to 1976. Two other Luna spacecraft soft-landed the Lunokhod robotic lunar rover in 1970 and 1973...
landings from 1969 to 1972, which returned 382 kilograms (842 lb) of lunar rock and lunarsoil to Earth In addition, three robotic Soviet Luna spacecraft returned...
1972. The lunar samples were recovered the following day. This was the eighth Soviet spacecraft launched with the intent of returning lunarsoil to Earth...
used to dig four trenches in the lunarsoil. These trenches were up to 7 inches (17.8 centimeters) deep. Samples of soil from the trenches were placed in...
The Chinese Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP; Chinese: 中国探月工程; pinyin: Zhōngguó Tànyuè Gōngchéng), also known as the Chang'e Project (Chinese: 嫦娥工程; pinyin:...
simulated lunarsoil. The simulated soil is a finely crushed basalt from Black Point, Arizona, that has mechanical properties matching lunarsoil. The facility...
successful two-man landing missions, twelve men walked on the lunar surface, six of whom drove Lunar Roving Vehicles as part of the last three missions. Three...
before the Apollo 11 mission, it was the second Soviet attempt to return lunarsoil back to Earth with a goal to outstrip the US in achieving a sample return...
the mission of the Luna 24 probe was the third Soviet mission to return lunarsoil samples from the Moon (the first two sample return missions were Luna...
Moon from lunar materials allows many of the benefits of space based facilities without the need to launch these into space. The lunarsoil, although...
found in high concentrations in lunarsoil and can be used to produce solar cells. In fact, the native vacuum on the lunar surface provides an excellent...
levitated dust. See Lunarsoil for more details. In October 2017, NASA scientists at the Marshall Space Flight Center and the Lunar and Planetary Institute...
sent the first robotic probe that automatically extracted a sample of lunarsoil and brought it to Earth in 1970, Luna 16. The Soviet program was also...
four television cameras, and special extendable devices to test the lunarsoil for soil density and mechanical properties. An X-ray spectrometer, an X-ray...
or by combining oxygen with hydrogen produced from lunarsoil. Lin et al. used 40g of the lunar regolith samples obtained by Apollo 16 to produce lunarcrete...
The Soviet-crewed lunar programs were a series of programs pursued by the Soviet Union to land humans on the Moon, in competition with the United States...
humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, and...
Global Information
