Lunarquakes: Understanding the Moon’s tectonic forces could protect future astronauts

As humanity looks to the Moon for scientific and economic opportunities in the coming years, understanding the potential dangers lurking on the Moon’s surface may become increasingly important.

Lumps on the Moon that indicate moonquakes are the subject of recent research paperwhich delves into tectonic activity across the moon’s maria, a vast network of dark plains created by ancient volcanic activity.

A team of researchers analyzed lunar formations called Little Persian Hills to create a global lunar map, the first of its kind. This paper was originally published on December 24 in the Planetary Science Journal.

Cole NepferA postdoctoral fellow at the National Air and Space Museum’s Center for Earth and Planetary Studies and one of the authors of the paper, told CNET that the identified ridges were formed by faults in the moon’s surface, which are associated with moonquakes.

“Although these moonquakes are potentially dangerous for long-term lunar exploration missions or permanent sites, they also provide fascinating opportunities to learn more about the Moon’s interior and how it formed,” Niepfer said.

The moon is shrinking

One of the authors of the paper is a scientist named Tom Waters. Back in 2010, Watters find out The moon is slowly shrinking because its core is cooling.

The contraction of the Moon causes disturbances on its surface. The crust compresses and pushes material up along faults, creating ridges, similar to how mountains form on Earth.

The most common of these bumps are called lobular scars. They form on lunar highlands, which are the bright spots we see when we look at the moon. But small mare hills form only in the lunar maria, which are the dark areas of the moon that contrast with the highlands.

This research is the first time scientists have documented ridges throughout the lunar maria. In doing so, we now have a more complete understanding of the Moon’s thermal and seismic history, which may give us a better idea of ​​any potential moonquakes in the future.

“Our results represent the world’s most complete understanding of modern lunar tectonics to date,” Niepfer said. “The presence of these additional tectonic features in the lunar maria suggests that the Moon may have experienced greater global contraction in the recent past than previously thought.”

Moon missions

Humans establishing a permanent foothold on the moon have gone from science fiction to real plans for the near future. NASA Artemis II mission It is scheduled to be released in March at the earliest. While this mission will only send astronauts into lunar orbit, future Artemis missions plan to land humans on the moon and build permanent infrastructure there.

Professor at the University of Maryland Nicholas Schmer NASA helped develop Lunar environment monitoring station for Artemis 3The crew of the third Artemis mission, currently scheduled for 2028, will reach the surface of the moon.

Shamir told CNET that this instrument will detect seismic activity in the south polar region of the moon.

“We will get a completely new picture of lunar seismic activity at the South Pole and the lunar side,” Shamir said.

LEMS-A3 is a station designed to be self-sufficient, and Shamir will serve as the mission’s deputy principal investigator. LEMS-A3 will assess “seismicity associated with tectonics in the region and any risk that moonquakes (or impacts) could pose to long-lived infrastructure in the future,” Shamir said.

Shop setup

NASA is not the only one looking to continue lunar operations in the long term. A company called Interlune wants that, too Setting up mining operations On the moon to mine helium-3, a valuable isotope that can be used there Clean energy and Quantum computers.

Elon Musk has spoken Build a moon base To launch artificial intelligence satellites into orbit.

Learning which areas of the Moon are most likely to experience moonquakes could influence where space agencies and private companies decide to build outposts in the future.

“There are several missions coming to the Moon that will carry dedicated seismometers in hopes of detecting a lunar earthquake from a small mare chain or an asteroid impact on the Moon,” Niepfer said. “By identifying a new set of tectonic features in the lunar maria, our work provides additional targets for those missions seeking to use lunar earthquakes to better understand our nearest celestial neighbor.”