Atomistic Simulation of Lunar Regolith Surfaces

The moon, like all air-less bodies, is exposed to the harshness of the environment of space. The surface is bombarded by solar wind ions, cosmic rays, and Ultraviolet and X-ray radiation, which interact with the soil in a process referred to as space weathering. Further, studies have found micrometeorite impacts affect the moon's soil and by studying micrometeorite interactions, we can learn about the early conditions and processes in the solar system's history. Knowing about the dynamics of the moon's regolith leads to a better understanding of the complex mineralogy on the moon. The purpose of this research is to simulate the lunar regolith and explore the dynamics of interacting particles. We begin by building a slab that is composed of the mineral forsterite, which is a characteristic of the lunar regolith, at an atomized level. We adopt the public-domain software LAMMPS (Large-scale Atomic/Molecular Massively Parallel Simulator) to mimic the moon's surface and to simulate the collisions of atoms, molecules, atomic clusters, and ultimately micrometeorites. This will provide insights into the dynamics and chemical processing of lunar material at the microscopic level.