A behind-the-scenes look at the growing business of 'space dirt'

ORLANDO, Fla. — In the race into space, some of its dustiest work might well be happening at a nondescript office park in Central Florida.

“We started off making just small little bowls of simulant,” she said, “but as demand has grown, we've gotten more and more industrial-sized." Part of the charm, if you will, of moon and Mars dirt is that it has a tendency to get everywhere. As harmless as it can seem on Earth, it can be a really big problem for machinery headed off-world.

"We can make lots of different variations of material here and make sure that whatever machines we devise that they can operate in all sorts of different environments," said Hannah Sargeant, a planetary scientist at Exolith Lab.

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