{"id":14936,"date":"2024-02-01T00:46:58","date_gmt":"2024-02-01T00:46:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/01\/earths-moon-is-shrinking-heres-what-scientists-say-that-could-mean\/"},"modified":"2024-02-01T00:46:58","modified_gmt":"2024-02-01T00:46:58","slug":"earths-moon-is-shrinking-heres-what-scientists-say-that-could-mean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/01\/earths-moon-is-shrinking-heres-what-scientists-say-that-could-mean\/","title":{"rendered":"Earth\u2019s moon is shrinking. Here\u2019s what scientists say that could mean"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A region of the moon that\u2019s at the center of a new international space race because it may contain water ice could be less hospitable than once thought, new research has found. <\/p>\n

Interest in the lunar south pole spiked last year, when India\u2019s Chandrayaan-3 mission made the first successful soft landing in the area, just days after Russia\u2019s Luna-25 spacecraft crashed en route to attempt the same feat. NASA has selected the region as the landing site for its Artemis III mission, which could mark the return of astronauts to the moon as soon as 2026, and China also has plans to create future habitats there. <\/p>\n

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<\/span>video <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Related video<\/span> Ex-NASA astronaut explains why the moon\u2019s south pole is of special interest<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

But now a study funded by NASA is ringing an alarm bell: As the moon\u2019s core gradually cools and shrinks, its surface develops creases \u2014 like a grape shriveling into a raisin \u2014 that create \u201cmoonquakes\u201d that can last for hours, as well as landslides. Much like the rest of the natural satellite\u2019s surface, the area of the south pole that is the subject of so much interest is prone to these seismic phenomena, potentially posing a threat to future human settlers and equipment. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not to alarm anyone and certainly not to discourage exploration of that part of the south pole of the moon,\u201d said the study\u2019s lead author, Thomas R. Watters, a senior scientist emeritus in the National Air and Space Museum\u2019s Center for Earth and Planetary Studies, \u201cbut to raise the caution that the moon is not this benign place where nothing is happening.\u201d <\/p>\n

Finding the source of moonquakes<\/h3>\n

The moon has shrunk by about 150 feet in circumference over the last few million years \u2014 a significant number in geological terms but too small to cause any ripple effect on Earth or to tidal cycles, according to researchers. <\/p>\n

On the lunar surface, however, it\u2019s a different story. Despite what its appearance might suggest, the moon still has a hot interior, which makes it seismically active. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is an outer core that\u2019s molten and is cooling off,\u201d Watters said. \u201cAs it cools, the moon shrinks, the interior volume changes and the crust has to adjust to that change \u2014 it\u2019s a global contraction, to which tidal forces on the Earth also contribute.\u201d <\/p>\n

Because the moon\u2019s surface is brittle, this pulling generates cracks, which geologists call faults. \u201cThe moon is thought of as being this geologically dead object where nothing has happened for billions of years, but that couldn\u2019t be more far from the truth,\u201d Watters said. \u201cThese faults are very young and things are happening. We\u2019ve actually detected landslides that have occurred during the time that the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has been in orbit around the moon.\u201d <\/p>\n

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<\/span> What you should know about the moon area where Japan\u2019s lander touched down<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

NASA\u2019s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, launched in 2009, and it\u2019s mapping the moon\u2019s surface with various instruments. In the new study, published January 25 in The Planetary Science Journal, Watters and his colleagues used data collected by LRO to link a powerful moonquake \u2014 detected with instruments left by Apollo astronauts more than 50 years ago \u2014 to a series of faults in the lunar south pole. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew from the Apollo seismic experiment, which were four seismometers that operated for a period of about seven years, that there were these shallow moonquakes, but we didn\u2019t really know what the source was,\u201d Watters added. \u201cWe also knew that the largest of the shallow moonquakes detected by the Apollo seismometers was located near the south pole. It kind of became a sort of a detective story to try to figure out what the source was, and it turns out that these young faults are the best suspect.\u201d <\/p>\n

The strongest recorded quake was the equivalent of magnitude 5.0. On Earth, that would be considered moderate, but the moon\u2019s lower gravity would make it feel worse, Watters said. <\/p>\n

\u201cOn the Earth, you have a much stronger gravity keeping you attached to the surface. On the moon, it\u2019s much smaller, so even a little bit of ground acceleration is going to potentially pop you off your feet, if you\u2019re walking along,\u201d he said. \u201cThat kind of shaking can really start throwing things around in a low G environment.\u201d <\/p>\n

Moonquakes: Short-term vs. long-term implications<\/h3>\n

The findings of the study will not affect the Artemis III landing region selection process, and that\u2019s due to the scope and duration of the mission, according to study coauthor and NASA planetary scientist Renee Weber. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is because estimating how often a specific region experiences a moonquake is difficult to do accurately, and like earthquakes, we can\u2019t predict moonquakes,\u201d Weber said. \u201cStrong shallow moonquakes are infrequent and pose a low risk to short-term missions on the lunar surface.\u201d <\/p>\n

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<\/span> NASA\u2019s most high-risk endeavor in decades and other boundary-pushing space missions planned for 2024<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

NASA has identified 13 Artemis III candidate landing regions near the lunar south pole, she added, using criteria such as the ability to land safely in the region, the potential to meet science objectives, launch window availability and conditions such as terrain, communications and lighting. As part of the mission, two astronauts will spend about a week living and working on the lunar surface. <\/p>\n

However, Weber said, for a long-term human presence on the moon, the site selection process could indeed factor in geographic characteristics such as proximity to tectonic features and terrain. <\/p>\n

Like flashlights in the moon<\/h3>\n

Moonquakes could indeed be a problem for future manned landing missions, said Yosio Nakamura, a professor emeritus of geophysics at the University of Texas at Austin, who was among the researchers who first looked at the data collected by the Apollo seismic stations. <\/p>\n

However, Nakamura, who was not involved with the study, disagrees about the cause of the quakes, and said Apollo data shows the phenomena originate tens of kilometers below the surface. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe still don\u2019t know what causes shallow moonquakes, but it is not the sliding fault near the surface,\u201d he said. \u201cRegardless of what causes those quakes, it is true that they pose a potential threat to future landing missions, and we need more data about them.\u201d <\/p>\n

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Related article<\/span> Abandoned Apollo 17 lunar lander module is causing tremors on the moon<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Regardless of the underlying cause, the potential danger moonquakes pose to astronauts will be limited by the fact that \u2014 at least in the near future \u2014 humans will be on the moon for short periods of time, a few days at most, according to Allen Husker, a research professor of geophysics at the California Institute of Technology who was also not involved with the study. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is very unlikely that a large moonquake will happen while they are there. However, it is good to know that these seismic sources (causing the quakes) exist. They can be an opportunity to better study the moon as we do on the Earth with earthquakes,\u201d Husker said. \u201cBy the time there is an actual moon base, we should have a much better idea of the actual seismic hazard with upcoming missions.\u201d <\/p>\n

That sentiment is shared by Jeffrey Andrews-Hanna, an associate professor of planetary science at the University of Arizona, who also didn\u2019t participate in the work. \u201cMoonquakes are an incredible tool for doing science,\u201d he said in an email. \u201cThey are like flashlights in the lunar interior that illuminate its structure for us to see. Studying moonquakes at the south pole will tell us more about the Moon\u2019s interior structure as well as its present-day activity.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A region of the moon that\u2019s at the center of a new international space race because it may contain water ice could be less hospitable than once thought, new research has found. Interest in the lunar south pole spiked last year, when India\u2019s Chandrayaan-3 mission made the first successful soft landing in the area, just <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":14937,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-14936","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}