As of: January 31, 2024, 8:48 a.m
By: Tanja Banner
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The planned moon landing in 2026 faces unexpected challenges.
A recent study points to the risk of moonquakes.
College Park – Somewhere at the south pole of the moon there will be human footprints in the moon dust again in the coming years.
This is already certain because research assumes that there is water ice there.
This will be examined by the astronauts and used for their purposes.
But a recent study from the University of Maryland and the Smithsonian Institution's Center for Earth and Planetary Studies suggests that landing on the moon's south pole could come with risks.
The background is the geology of the moon: the celestial body cools from the inside and shrinks as a result.
This process is not dramatic - in several hundred million years the moon has only lost around 45 meters of circumference - but it does have an impact on the surface of the celestial body.
Similar to how a grape forms wrinkles when it becomes a raisin, the moon's surface also forms wrinkles as it shrinks.
However, because the moon's surface is brittle, collisions with the crust lead to moonquakes and faults.
The moon is shrinking – moonquakes could endanger space travel
Thomas R. Watters, who led a study on the topic, put it this way in a statement: “Our modeling suggests that shallow moonquakes that can produce strong ground shaking in the southern polar region occur through slipping on existing faults or through formation new thrust faults are possible.” In the study, which was published in the
Planetary Science Journal
, Watters’ research team examined a group of faults in the southern polar region.
The team made a connection to one of the strongest moonquakes, which was detected by the “Apollo” seismometers more than 50 years ago.
According to the research results, some areas at the south pole of the moon are particularly at risk of earthquakes.
Watters therefore warns: “The global distribution of young thrust faults, their potential to be active, and the potential to form new thrust faults through ongoing global contraction should be taken into account when planning the location and stability of permanent lunar outposts.”
Quakes on the moon could damage man-made structures
Moonquakes occur near the lunar surface, about a hundred kilometers below the crust.
They can be powerful enough to damage (as yet non-existent) buildings, equipment, or other man-made structures.
Unlike earthquakes on Earth, which typically last only seconds or minutes, shallow moonquakes can last for hours or even an entire afternoon.
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The magnitude 5 earthquake recorded in the 1970s, which the researchers used for their study, also lasted a long time.
Nicholas Schmerr, co-author of the study, explains the situation on site: “You can imagine the surface of the moon as dry, grounded gravel and dust.
Over the course of billions of years, the surface has been hit by asteroids and comets, with the angular fragments repeatedly thrown out by the impacts.”
The moon is shrinking and shaking - not a pleasant place for future landings.
(Archive image) © IMAGO/Wolfgang Maria Weber
The surface material is “micron to block-sized, but only very loosely consolidated”.
These loose sediments made it possible for “tremors and landslides to occur,” warns the researcher, who is convinced that moonquakes could destroy human settlements on the moon.
NASA wants to put people on the moon in 2026
When making their warnings, the scientists first think of the NASA mission “Artemis 3”, which was recently postponed to 2026 and is intended to bring people to the moon for the first time.
Later, a station in lunar orbit (“gateway”) and research stations on the moon are planned.
Schmerr emphasizes: "The closer the launch date for the crewed 'Artemis' mission gets, the more important it is to make our astronauts, our equipment and our infrastructure as safe as possible." The scientists plan to continue monitoring the moon's seismic activity to monitor and identify other potentially dangerous regions.
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