Mechanical Properties of Icy Lunar Regolith: Application to ISRU on the Moon and Mars

Material strength determines the optimum mining approach and brackets the upper limit of excavation forces, energies, and size of mining equipment. In particular, knowledge of the strength of volatile-rich deposits on Mars and the Moon for the purpose of in situ resource utilization (ISRU) would be critical to the success of ISRU missions. Numerous tests were performed to determine unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of JSC-1a lunar soil simulant at various densities, water contents (wt%) of 3%, 5%, and 12%, and temperatures of 253 K and 77 K.