The Moon

[caltrek]

Massive Heat-Emitting Mass Discovered Buried Under The Surface Of The Moon
by Dr Alfredo Carpineti, PhD.
July 7, 2023

Introduction:

(IFL Science) A large mass of granite that has been slowly releasing heat has been discovered buried underneath a crater on the Moon. This is not science fiction, it's ancient volcanism. The Moon used to have lava fields and eruptions, but astronomers had never actually found a more traditional Earth-like volcano – until they looked at what was beneath the Compton and Belkovich craters on the far side of the Moon.

Granite is not very common outside of Earth so finding it on the Moon is very exciting. On our planet, it forms deep beneath the surface, usually under a volcano where magma can cool down and crystalize. To make granite, having water and plate tectonics helps a lot. The team used a combination of data from Chinese and American lunar orbiters to discover this heat-emitting mass below the surface, identifying a volcanic process never before seen on the Moon.

“Using an instrument looking at microwave wavelengths – longer than infrared – sent to the Moon on both the Chinese Chang'E 1 and 2 orbiters, we have been able to map temperatures below the surface. What we found was that one of these suspected volcanoes, known as Compton-Belkovich, was absolutely glowing at microwave wavelengths,” co-lead researcher Dr Matt Siegler, of the Planetary Science Institute, said in a statement.

“What this means is that it is hot, not necessarily at the surface, as you would see in infrared, but under the surface. The only way to explain this is from extra heat coming from somewhere below the feature within the deeper lunar crust. So Compton-Belkovich, thought to be a volcano, is also hiding a large heat source below it.”

The data shows a 20-kilometer (12-mile) wide silicon-rich surface feature that they believe is the caldera of this ancient volcano. The temperature there is 10°C (18°F) warmer than its surroundings, but it's not from magma under the surface – the last time, the volcano erupted was 3.5 billion years ago – it's from radioactive elements that were stuck in the rocks.

Read more here: https://www.iflscience.com/massive-hea ... oon-69719

[wjfox]

Hard to imagine the scale of these impacts in the past.

And the frequency, too. Whereas today, a large asteroid may strike every 10 to 100 million years, they would have been arriving perhaps every few decades back in the Late Heavy Bombardment period. And smaller (but still significant) impacts might have occurred yearly or even monthly.

[Time_Traveller]

New analysis of old Apollo data finds 'moonquake' source

Sep 08, 2023

A new analysis of seismic activity on the Moon used machine learning to re-analyze archival data of "moonquakes" collected during the Apollo era, a press statement reveals.

Specifically, the new study applied these techniques to old moonquake data from the Apollo 17 mission.

It found that previous analyses had mischaracterized a surprising source of vibrations — the Apollo 17 lunar lander base.

https://interestingengineering.com/scie ... ake-source

[weatheriscool]

[caltrek]

China Is Putting Serious Thought Into Building Bases in Moon Caves
by Evan Gough
September 28, 2023

Introduction:

(Science Alert) Caves were some of humanity's first shelters. Who knows what our distant ancestors were thinking as they sought refuge there, huddling and cooking meat over a fire, maybe drawing animals on the walls.

Caves protected our ancient ancestors from the elements, and from predators and rivals, back when sticks, stones, furs and fire were our only technologies.

So there's a poetic parallel between early humans and us. We're visiting the Moon again, and lunar caves could shelter us the way caves sheltered our ancestors on Earth.

On the Moon, astronauts will need protection from a different set of hazards. They'll have to contend with cosmic and solar radiation, meteorites, wild temperature swings, and even impact ejecta.

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has found hundreds of lunar 'skylights,' locations where a lava tube's ceiling has collapsed, making a natural opening into the tube.

The remaining part of the article discusses China’s apparent interest in exploring and even implementing this idea.

Read more here: https://www.sciencealert.com/china-is- ... n-caves

[caltrek]

New Findings in Lunar Soil Samples Suggest Moon Water Could Fuel Future Space Exploration
by Sarwat Nasir
November 23, 2023
Introduction:

(The National) Scientists working on lunar soil samples brought back from an Apollo mission have discovered the presence of hydrogen, suggesting that water found on the Moon could be used to make rocket fuel.

The detection of hydrogen adds on to previous studies which have shown that water was possibly trapped in glass beads spread across the lunar surface.

Its discovery could be a crucial resource for astronauts who set up base on the Moon because rocket fuel can be made with water via electrolysis, where you split hydrogen with oxygen.

The latest study was carried out by the US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and findings were published in science journal Nature on November 15.

“Hydrogen has the potential to be a resource that can be used directly on the lunar surface when there are more regular or permanent installations there,” said Dr Katherine D Burgess, a geologist in NRL’s materials science and technology division.

Read more here: https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/ ... apollo/

[firestar464]

Phys article on this:

https://phys.org/news/2023-11-hydrogen- ... ility.html

[caltrek]

The Moon is Shrinking, Causing Landslides and Instability in Lunar South Pole
January 25, 2024

Introduction:

(Eurekalert) Earth’s moon shrank more than 150 feet in circumference as its core gradually cooled over the last few hundred million years. In much the same way a grape wrinkles when it shrinks down to a raisin, the moon also develops creases as it shrinks. But unlike the flexible skin on a grape, the moon’s surface is brittle, causing faults to form where sections of crust push against one another.

A team of scientists discovered evidence that this continuing shrinkage of the moon led to notable surface warping in its south polar region—including areas that NASA proposed for crewed Artemis III landings. Because fault formation caused by the moon’s shrinking is often accompanied by seismic activity like moonquakes, locations near or within such fault zones could pose dangers to future human exploration efforts.

In a new paper published in The Planetary Science Journal, the team linked a group of faults located in the moon’s south polar region to one of the most powerful moonquakes recorded by Apollo seismometers over 50 years ago. Using models to simulate the stability of surface slopes in the region, the team found that some areas were particularly vulnerable to landslides from seismic shaking.

“Our modeling suggests that shallow moonquakes capable of producing strong ground shaking in the south polar region are possible from slip events on existing faults or the formation of new thrust faults,” said the study’s lead author Thomas R. Watters, a senior scientist emeritus in the National Air and Space Museum’s Center for Earth and Planetary Studies. “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.”

Read more of the Science Alert article here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1032347

For a technical presentation of the study results as published in The Planetary Science Journal : https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/ad1332

[firestar464]

Korean researchers create an electrostatic environment that simulates the moon's surface

https://phys.org/news/2024-02-korean-el ... -moon.html

[Time_Traveller]

Scientists call for protection of moon sites that could advance astronomy

Mon 25 Mar 2024 00.01 GMT

Astronomers are calling for the urgent protection of sites on the moon that are rated the best spots in the solar system for advanced instruments designed to unveil the secrets of the universe.

The prime locations are free from ground vibration, shielded from Earth’s noisy broadcast signals or profoundly cold – making them uniquely well-suited for sensitive equipment that could make observations impossible from elsewhere.

But the pristine spots, known as sites of extraordinary scientific importance (Sesis), are in danger of being ruined by an imminent wave of missions such as lunar navigation and communications satellites, rovers and mining operations, with experts warning on Monday that safeguarding the precious sites was an “urgent matter”.

“This is the first time humanity has to decide how we will expand into the solar system,” said Dr Martin Elvis, an astronomer at the Harvard and Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Massachusetts. “We’re in danger of losing one-of-a-kind opportunities to understand the universe.”

At least 22 international missions are expected to touch down on the moon by late 2026, with half heading to sites near the lunar south pole. More will follow, including commercial and civil landers, while two moon bases, one US, the other Chinse and Russian, are expected to be operational in the 2030s.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/202 ... telescopes