Hello Everyone,
I am a PhD student at the University of Washington, and I am designing several plant-regolith growth experiments.
I am currently trying to decide which Lunar Regolith Simulant to buy. I am focusing on mare simulants, but I would be interested in hearing anyone’s experience with any Lunar Regolith Simulant. I know that the two main companies are Space Resource Technologies (SRT) and Off Planet Research (OPR). Does anyone have experience with the LMS-1 (SRT) or OPRL2N (OPR) and have any opinions on which one would be better for plant growth experiments? Or which one is a more accurate simulant?
I would also be interested in hearing people’s opinions on the merits of mare vs highland regolith as a growth substrate for plants.
–Kevin Shaffman (University of Washington)
@borjabarbero @dr.richard.barker @PlantAWG @rachelcrivero @harrison.coker
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Hey Kevin,
I bought LMS-1 and some martian ones for my experiments back home. According to the spec sheet it is 99% similar. May be useful for some PoCs and quite cost efficient for early bird experimentation. It does not contain nanophase iron tho.
Edit→make sure you wear a high quality face mask. PN95 or better. Moist the dust as well.
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There also in an entire sub-group project on this topic. So this thread is PERFECTLY timed 
Thread here: Regolith research subgroup
And the next meeting is this Monday!
Event here: https://awg.osdr.space/t/lunar-regolith-subgroup/2479
Contact @borjabarbero & @dr.richard.barker @rachelcrivero who i believe are leading this
You should see all the calendar invites for the AWGs you belong to here: https://awg.osdr.space/upcoming-events?view=month
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Thank you, this sounds like a perfect place to ask my question!
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@nicholas.brereton @stefania.sabau - As you have designed experiments and grown multiple species in regolith, you might have some useful feedback to share?
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Everyone welcome to join! Kevin feel free to ask any questions at the upcoming meeting.
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I will be sure to do that.
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