Colonizing Mars
But, despite the lack of dangerous additions, the simulant is extremely close to the real thing, which makes it a useful tool for scientists and engineers. If you go to an alien planet with an alien environment and alien minerals, it would be a good idea to simulate those things on Earth before launching, Britt explained. “You wouldn’t want to discover that your method didn’t work when we are actually there,” Britt said.
Future space travelers could depend on Martian dirt for everything from building structures on the planet’s surface to growing plants in Mars’ dusty, red soil. “Surprises are bad,” Britt said. They want future astronauts to land prepared.
Their asteroid simulant also serves an important purpose. Companies and space agencies are interested in extracting water and metals from asteroids. The simulant lets scientists “practice” doing that.
Technically, anyone could buy this simulant and try to become a Martian farmer. But Britt cautions “Mars is not exactly fertile territory.” So these carefully designed simulants are intended primarily for scientists and engineers researching future Mars missions. Using simulants in this research will “reduce risk, make things safer [and] have fewer surprises in the long run,” Britt said.
Their standardized method to create simulant Martian soil is described in the journal Icarus.
