3. Finding moon dust in the dirt outside. How could they get enough moondust to cover that entire area in a simulation?
I haven't seen the movie yet, but...
The tires/wheels of the real Apollo lunar rover were tested in the state of Mississippi, USA, and the 'stand-in' for moon dust was volcanic ash, brought in from the Pacific northwest area in rail cars. (That work predated Mt. St. Helens' massive eruption.)
I saw, and touched, the actual equipment used, years after the first use of the lunar rover. It was kept intact for whatever reason... CHALLENGE: See if you can Google to find out who and exactly where that testing was done.
(If you get stumped, ask, and I'll tell you exactly where.)
So, there really is no shortage of volcanic ash to be used in covering "an area", just the question of costs involved.
===> Edited to add a typical special effects trick <===
Or, they could have used dried mashed potato flakes. That is used to simulate snow for movies. If you really needed it grey, give it a dose of food coloring. If you wanted it to appear heavy like rock dust, mix the potato flakes with construction cement (cement, sand, and water is used to make concrete). That is easily available everywhere, and probably pretty cheap too.
That "outside area" was so dark anyway, it was probably done inside a sound stage. That would have limited problems with wind blowing the dust around, and kept "lookey loos" away from the filming. If not, it was likely a small area anyway, nothing like the "miles" they supposedly walked.
I've been places, I've seen some things, and I've done some things.
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