According to NASA, if the Moon shakes every morning, it's because of humans
According to a study published by a NASA researcher on Tuesday September 5, 2023, the Moon would be shaken by tremors every day. While some of these tremors are of natural origin, others are due to the arrival of astronauts almost fifty years ago. A crucial discovery for the future lunar projects of the American space agency.
The Moon trembles. This is information that has been known for decades thanks to seismometers installed on the natural satellite during the Apollo 17 mission, in the years 1976-1977.
Previously, scientists thought that these tremors observed every morning and evening were solely due to natural temperature variations. However, a study published Tuesday, September 5, 2023 in the Journal of Geophysical Research has just demonstrated that half of these tremors were caused by the arrival of humans on the satellite.
According to NASA researcher Francesco Civilini, a large part of these tremors is in fact caused by the base of the Apollo 17 lander, left in place at the time. The study made it possible to identify that these tremors took place every morning at the same time and that their seismic signature was different from the evening tremors. The researchers were then able to locate their origin: when the temperature rises, the structure of the lander heats up, expands and begins to squeak, which emits the famous vibrations picked up by the seismometers installed nearby.
A crucial discovery
For the space agency, it is very interesting to study its tremors to better understand the impact of different temperature variations on the surface of the Moon (where they can go from +120 to -248 °C), indicates HuffPost . This new discovery is in fact essential for NASA, which intends not only to send astronauts back to the satellite within a few years, with its future Artemis mission, but also to establish a lunar base.
This study also makes it possible to identify the materials found underground, since seismic waves propagate differently depending on their nature. However, as a reminder, researchers aim to find water on the Moon. “We hope to be able to map underground craters and search for deposits,” NASA confirmed.
Source: websites