42 results about "Lunar soil" patented technology

Lunar soil is the fine fraction of the regolith found on the surface of the Moon. Its properties can differ significantly from those of terrestrial soil. The physical properties of lunar soil are primarily the result of mechanical disintegration of basaltic and anorthositic rock, caused by continual meteoric impacts and bombardment by solar and interstellar charged atomic particles over years. The process is largely one of mechanical weathering in which the particles are ground to finer and finer size over time. 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. Some have argued that the term soil is not correct in reference to the Moon because on Earth, soil is defined as having organic content, whereas the Moon has none. However, standard usage among lunar scientists is to ignore that distinction.