NASA's plans to send humans to the moon for the first time in more than fifty years have recently been severely delayed to ensure the safety of astronauts. Unfortunately, a recent study highlights that depending on where NASA chooses to land, the mission could face a new danger - moonquakes.
A NASA-funded study warns of the potential for earthquakes and landslides at a landing zone the agency is considering for a manned lunar mission. It's unclear how the news will affect NASA's plans.
The paper, published Thursday in the Journal of Planetary Science, shows that earthquakes occurred in many places across the lunar surface, including in an area near the South Pole, one of the candidate sites for NASA's Artemis 3 mission. These earthquakes can be shallow, occur close to the surface, and can cause mild to strong shaking depending on the distance from the epicenter.
Additionally, even slight shaking can cause landslides on hillsides, including some areas of interest to NASA. The agency believes these areas may hide valuable resources such as ice.
Evidence of seismic activity comes from seismometers deployed by Apollo astronauts decades ago, and from ridges showing thrust faults discovered by lunar orbiters. One possible reason is that the moon is shrinking due to its still hot interior. Tidal forces from Earth's gravity are another important factor. NASA plans to send more seismometers to the moon using the Far Side Seismic Kit, which is part of the Draper Lunar Lander mission scheduled to reach the far side of the lunar surface in 2025.
At the same time, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will execute the "Artemis" mission in three phases, eventually completing the first manned lunar landing mission since the end of the Apollo lunar landing mission in the 1970s. The agency completed the first phase, an unmanned flyby, in 2022. Artemis 2 was supposed to launch a crew into lunar orbit this year, but NASA delayed it until the end of 2025. According to the new plan, Artemis 3 will not land until September 2026.
Recently, several countries have discovered that landing on the moon is surprisingly challenging. This week, Japan became the fifth country to successfully land on the lunar surface - with its SLIM spacecraft. However, the mission was only partially successful because it landed face-down and was unable to deploy its solar panels, which are critical for generating electricity. However, JAXA hopes that SLIM will continue to operate once sunlight reaches the landing zone.