Originally Posted by MSNBC

If humans are going back to the moon for real, there’s need for “counterfeit” lunar materials. Known as simulants, tons of fake lunar soil is likely needed to assure that future explorers can sustain their stay on Earth’s moon.

Setting up the machinery that converts lunar regolith — that’s the moon’s topside “rug” of rock and dust — into building materials, solar cells, or fuel, water and oxygen supplies will demand a lot of work beforehand.

A NASA-sponsored “Lunar Regolith Simulant Materials Workshop” starts Monday, co-organized by the space agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., and the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Originally Posted by Nicolas

There is a thread on this in GA as well, I don't know where it belongs best.