Development of a chamber to simulate lunar surface environment

Any in-situ experiment planned to probe lunar surface/sub-surface properties requires a prior knowledge of their behavior on the Moon. For this purpose, a small chamber/facility for carrying out experiments, in particular for understanding lunar thermo-physical behavior, in a simulated lunar environment (pressure and temperatures) is designed and its performance has been evaluated. A soil stratum of 10–20 cm similar to the top layer of lunar surface can be simulated using this chamber. Two novelties of this setup are 1. A provision to heat/cool a copper platform inside the chamber, to simulate lunar day/night temperatures in the soil stratum, through a copper road; 2. A perforated sample holder to efficiently degas trapped gases in the sample stratum. The basic motivation of this work is to achieve a simulated environment close to that of the Moon and to carryout experiments with a limited sample size and sensors to understand the thermo-physical behavior of the outermost lunar surface. Several experiments were carried out using the chamber to demonstrate its capability. Thermal conductivity measurements under vacuum were carried in a soil stratum with this setup to demonstrate its temperature dependence. With minor modifications, the same chamber can also be used for similar other experiments. •A small and low-cost chamber has been designed and built to simulate lunar surface environment.•It simulates a small soil stratum along with surface temperatures (day/night) and pressure close to the lunar surface•The chamber has a provision for sample analysis as well as device testing.•Performance and utility of the chamber evaluated using several experiments.•Its capability has been demonstrated for measurement of temperature dependent thermal properties of lunar analogous soil