A recent study has found that moonquakes could affect the possibility of future human moon landings
According to a NASA-funded study published in the Planetary Science Journal, the moon is shrinking, causing moonquakes and faults near the southern pole of the lunar surface. The study examined seismic activity in areas designated as possible landing regions for Artemis III, the first mission that plans to have a crewed lunar landing. The lead author of the paper, Tom Watters of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, said that their modelling suggests that shallow moonquakes could occur from the formation of new thrust faults or slip events on existing faults capable of producing strong ground shaking in the south polar region.
Watters added that “the global distribution of young thrust faults, their potential to be active and the potential to form new thrust faults from ongoing global contraction should be considered when planning the location and stability of permanent outposts on the moon”. Co-author Nicholas Schmerr, an associate professor of geology at the University of Maryland, emphasised the importance of keeping astronauts, equipment and infrastructure as safe as possible as the Artemis mission launch date approaches.
