Two new lunar mare soil simulants, NAO-2 and NAO-3, have been created in National Astronomical Observatories (NAO), Chinese Academy of Sciences. These two simulants were produced from low-titanium basalt and high-titanium basalt respectively. The chemical composition, mineralogy, particle size distribution, density, angle of internal friction, and cohesion of both simulants have been analyzed, indicating that some characteristics of NAO-2 and NAO-3 are similar to those of Apollo 14 and Apollo 11 landing site soils. NAO-2 and NAO-3 will be of great benefit to the scientific and engineering research on lunar soil.

Publication name	ACTA GEOLOGICA SINICA-ENGLISH EDITION　Volume: 85 　Issue: 5 　Pages: 1016-1021　 Published: OCT 2011
Author(s)	Li Yongquan; Liu Jianzhong; Zou Yongliao; Ouyang Ziyuan; Zheng Yongchun; Yue Zongyu
Corresponding author	Li Yongquan  lyq@cugb.edu.cn  China Univ Geosci, Beijing 100083, Peoples R China
Author(s) from IGCAS	OUYANG Ziyuan

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