How can moonquakes influence the locations of future human settlements on the Moon’s surface? This is what a recent study published in Science Advances hopes to address as a team of researchers investigated the origins and sizes of moonquakes based on samples collected from the lunar surface. This study has the potential to help scientists better understand the geological history of the Moon and how this could influence future exploration opportunities.
For the study, the researchers analyzed data obtained from the Apollo 17 landing site at the Taurus-Littrow valley with the goal of gaining greater insight into moonquakes, as the Taurus-Littrow valley is home to a myriad of landslides and boulder falls triggered by moonquakes. The goal of the study was to use available data to examine the size, timing, and locations of moonquakes to predict future events.
In the end, the researchers found that several 3.0-magnitude quakes occurred along the Taurus-Littrow valley floor during the last 90 million years. Additionally, the researchers also estimated a one in 20 million chance of a moonquake occurring on lunar fault lines any given day, noting that long-duration missions pose increased risk of experiencing a damaging moonquake.
“If astronauts are there for a day, they’d just have very bad luck if there was a damaging event,” said Dr. Nicolas Schmerr, who is an Associate Professor of Geology at the University of Maryland and co-author of the study. “But if you have a habitat or crewed mission up on the moon for a whole decade, that’s 3,650 days times 1 in 20 million, or the risk of a hazardous moonquake becoming about 1 in 5,500. It’s similar to going from the extremely low odds of winning a lottery to much higher odds of being dealt a four of a kind poker hand.”
How will lunar fault zones influence construction of lunar bases in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
Sources: Science Advances, EurekAlert!
Featured Image: Apollo 17 astronaut, Harrison H. Schmitt, collecting samples during the mission. (Credit: NASA/JSC/ASU)
