Interlune replicates 15,000 years of solar wind in four hours to create helium-bearing lunar soil simulant

Interlune, a Seattle space-resources startup, synthesized gas-bearing lunar soil on Earth by bombarding ilmenite with accelerated helium plasma, replicating 15,000 years of solar wind exposure in a four-hour process. The lab-made simulant traps helium with release temperatures matching Apollo samples and will be used to test Interlune's lower-power Harvesting System and offered to other organizations.

IInterlune