Geomechanics from Micro to Macro in Space-soil engineering

White paper "China's Space Program: A 2021 Perspective" has unveiled new deep-space exploration missions, including the construction of a lunar research station, Mars and asteroid exploration and sampling etc., which involve a series of studies on the mechanical and engineering properties of space soils (lunar soil, Martian soil, and asteroid soil) and the interactions between these soils and equipment under the complex environments of deep space. This report will mainly present the micro constitutive model for space soil, the mechanism of problematic behaviours and the mechanical properties of TJ-1 lunar soil simulant, TJ-M1 Martian soil simulant and asteroid soil simulant developed for China's deep-space exploration projects, and further elucidates the effects of complex space environments (high vacuum, low gravity, etc.) on the engineering properties (CPT and plate load test) of lunar soil and the interactions between lunar soil and equipment (lunar rover and excavation), aiming to provide references for the successful implementation of China's deep space exploration missions.