Science

Earth’s Moon Is Shrinking. Here’s What Scientists Say That Could Mean

Published

8 months ago

2024-02-01

According to a new study, a moon region at the centre of a new worldwide space race due to the possibility of water ice may be less habitable than previously thought.

Interest in the lunar south pole peaked last year when India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission performed the first successful soft landing in the region, just days after Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft crashed while attempting the same feat. NASA has chosen the region as the landing location for its Artemis III mission, which could send men to the Moon as early as 2026, and China has ambitions to build future habitats there.

However, a NASA-funded study is now raising the alarm: As the Moon’s core gradually cools and shrinks, its surface develops creases, similar to a grape shrivelling into a raisin, resulting in “moonquakes” that can continue for hours and landslides. Much like the rest of the natural satellite’s surface, the area near the south pole that has sparked so much curiosity is prone to seismic disturbances, which could endanger future human residents and equipment.

Earth’s Moon Is Shrinking. Here’s What Scientists Say That Could Mean

“This is not to alarm anyone and certainly not to discourage exploration of that part of the south pole of the moon,” said the study’s lead author, Thomas R. Watters, a senior scientist emeritus in the National Air and Space Museum’s Centre for Earth and Planetary Studies, “but to raise the caution that the moon is not this benign place where nothing is happening.”

Identifying the source of moonquakes
According to researchers, the Moon’s circumference has shrunk by about 150 feet over the previous few million years, a significant amount in geological terms but insufficient to affect Earth or tidal cycles.

However, on the lunar surface, the situation is much different. Despite its appearance, the Moon contains a hot interior that causes seismic activity.

“There is an outer core that’s molten and is cooling off,” Watters told reporters. “As it cools, the moon shrinks, the interior volume changes and the crust has to adjust to that change — it’s a global contraction, to which tidal forces on the Earth also contribute.”

Because the Moon’s surface is brittle, this pushing causes cracks, which geologists call faults. “The moon is thought of as being this geologically dead object where nothing has happened for billions of years, but that couldn’t be more far from the truth,” he said. “These faults are extremely young, and things are happening. We’ve spotted landslides that occurred while the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter was in orbit around the Moon.”

Earth’s Moon Is Shrinking. Here’s What Scientists Say That Could Mean

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, was launched in 2009 and is surveying the Moon’s surface using a variety of instruments. Watters and his colleagues utilised data obtained by LRO to relate a powerful moonquake observed with instruments left by Apollo astronauts more than 50 years ago to a sequence of faults in the lunar south pole.

“We knew from the Apollo seismic experiment, which were four seismometers that operated for a period of about seven years, that there were these shallow moonquakes, but we didn’t really know what the source was,” he said. “We also knew that the greatest of the shallow moonquakes identified by the Apollo seismometers occurred around the south pole. It kind of turned into a detective story to figure out what the cause was, and it turns out that these young flaws are the best suspects.”

The strongest recorded earthquake had a magnitude of 5.0. That would be considered mild on Earth, but Watters believes the Moon’s reduced gravity would make it feel worse.

“Gravity is significantly stronger on Earth, keeping you stuck to the surface. “On the moon, it’s much smaller, so even a small amount of ground acceleration could knock you off your feet if you’re walking,” he explained. “That shaking can start throwing things around in a low G environment.”

Moonquakes: Short-term and long-term implications
According to research coauthor and NASA planetary scientist Renee Weber, the study’s conclusions will not impact the Artemis III landing area selection process because of the mission’s scale and duration.

Earth’s Moon Is Shrinking. Here’s What Scientists Say That Could Mean

“This is because estimating how often a specific region experiences a moonquake is difficult to do accurately, and like earthquakes, we can’t predict moonquakes,” he said. “Strong shallow moonquakes are infrequent and pose a low risk to short-term missions on the lunar surface.”

She said that NASA has identified 13 Artemis III candidate landing areas near the lunar south pole based on characteristics such as the region’s capacity to land safely, the potential to accomplish science objectives, launch window availability, and terrain, communications, and illumination conditions. Two astronauts will live and work on the lunar surface for approximately one week as part of the mission.

However, Weber stated that for long-term human settlement on the Moon, geographic qualities such as proximity to tectonic features and topography could be considered during the site selection.

Like flashlights on the Moon.
Moonquakes could pose a concern for future manned landing missions, according to Yoshio Nakamura, a professor emeritus of geophysics at the University of Texas at Austin and one of the experts who first examined the data acquired by the Apollo seismic stations.

However, Nakamura, who was not part of the study, argues regarding the cause of the quakes, claiming that Apollo data suggests the phenomenon originates tens of kilometres below the surface.

“We still don’t know what causes shallow moonquakes, but it is not the sliding fault near the surface,” he told reporters. “Regardless of what causes those quakes, it is true that they pose a potential threat to future landing missions, and we need more data about them.”

Regardless of the underlying cause, the potential danger moonquakes pose to astronauts will be limited because, at least shortly, humans will only be on the Moon for short periods, a few days at most, according to Allen Husker, a research professor of geophysics at the California Institute of Technology who was not involved in the study.

“It is highly improbable that a major moonquake will occur while they are present. However, it is useful to know that these seismic sources (which cause the quakes) exist. “They can provide an opportunity to better study the moon, just as earthquakes do on Earth,” Husker added. “By the time there is an actual moon base, we should have a much better idea of the actual seismic hazard with upcoming missions.”

Jeffrey Andrews-Hanna, an associate professor of planetary science at the University of Arizona who wasn’t involved in the study, shares that viewpoint. “Moonquakes are an incredible tool for doing science,” he explained in an email. “They’re like headlights in the lunar interior, illuminating the structure for us to see. Studying moonquakes at the South Pole will reveal more about the moon’s internal structure and current activity.

SOURCE – CNN

Up Next

A Volcano In Iceland Is Erupting Again, Spewing Lava And Cutting Heat And Hot Water Supplies

Don't Miss

Japan Became The Fifth Country To Reach The Moon After Its Spacecraft Landed On The Lunar Surface

Science

Hurricane Kirk Could Cause Dangerous Surf Conditions Along The US East Coast

Published

1 day ago

2024-10-03

Kiara Grace

MIAMI — Hurricane Kirk’s waves could generate life-threatening surf and rip current conditions this weekend throughout the United States East Coast, as well as in Bermuda, the Greater Antilles, and the Bahamas, according to forecasters.

Kirk was a Category 3 hurricane in the middle Atlantic Ocean that might grow further but was predicted to stay away from land, according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Center on Thursday.

Hurricane Kirk Could Cause Dangerous Surf Conditions Along The US East Coast

Kirk-generated swells were forecast to reach parts of the Leeward Islands on Friday, Bermuda and the Greater Antilles on Saturday, and the East Coast and the Bahamas on Sunday, according to the center.

No coastal watches or warnings were in effect. The major storm was around 1,130 miles (1,820 kilometers) east of the Leeward Islands, with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph (205 km/h).

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Leslie formed late Wednesday in the eastern Atlantic and is expected to strengthen into a hurricane in the following days, forecasters said. It was also not considered a threat to the land.

Hurricane Kirk Could Cause Dangerous Surf Conditions Along The US East Coast

The storm was about 540 miles (870 kilometers) southwest of Cabo Verde’s southernmost tip, with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph), according to the center.

The storms raged in the Atlantic as rescuers in the United States Southeast sought for missing persons after Hurricane Helene struck last week, leaving a trail of death and devastation.

SOURCE | AP

Science

Stuck NASA Astronauts Welcome SpaceX Capsule That’ll Bring Them Home Next Year

Published

4 days ago

2024-09-30

Kiara Grace

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida – The two astronauts who have been stranded aboard the International Space Station since June welcomed their new trip home on Sunday, when a SpaceX spacecraft arrived.

SpaceX launched the rescue mission on Saturday with a smaller crew of two astronauts and two empty seats designated for Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who will return next year. The Dragon capsule docked in the dark as the two aircraft flew 265 miles (426 km) above Botswana.

Stuck NASA Astronauts Welcome SpaceX Capsule That’ll Bring Them Home Next Year

NASA sent Wilmore and Williams to SpaceX after worries about the safety of their Boeing Starliner capsule. It was the first Starliner test flight with a crew, and NASA determined that the thruster failures and helium leaks that occurred after liftoff were too dangerous and little understood to jeopardise the test pilots’ safety. So the Starliner returned to Earth empty earlier this month.

The Dragon, which is carrying NASA’s Nick Hague and the Russian Space Agency’s Alexander Gorbunov, will stay at the space station until February, extending what was supposed to be a weeklong trip for Wilmore and Williams to more than eight months.

Two NASA astronauts were removed from the flight to create way for Wilmore and Williams during the return trip.

“I just want to say welcome to our new compadres,” said Williams, the space station commander, as Hague and Gorbunov floated inside and were greeted by the nine astronauts who awaited them.

Hague stated that it was a smooth flight up. “Coming through the hatch and seeing all the smiles, and as much as I’ve laughed and cried in the last 10 minutes, I know it’s going to be an amazing expedition,” he told me.

NASA like to renew its station crews every six months or so. SpaceX has been providing the taxi service since its first astronaut flight in 2020. NASA also engaged Boeing for ferry flights after the space shuttles were gone, but defective software and other Starliner difficulties caused years of delays and cost more than $1 billion to correct.

Starliner inspections are ongoing at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre, with post-flight data evaluations scheduled to begin this week.

“We’re a long way from saying, ‘Hey, we’re writing off Boeing,'” NASA’s associate administrator Jim Free stated during a pre-launch briefing.

Stuck NASA Astronauts Welcome SpaceX Capsule That’ll Bring Them Home Next Year

With the arrival of two new astronauts, the four who have been up there since March will be able to return to Earth in their own SpaceX capsule in little over a week, reducing the station’s crew size to the customary seven. Their stay was extended by a month due to the Starliner incident.

Although Saturday’s launch went properly, SpaceX claimed the rocket’s discarded upper stage ended up outside its intended landing zone in the Pacific due to a faulty engine firing. The corporation has paused all Falcon launches until it investigates what went wrong.was extended by a month due to the Starliner crisis.

spacex

SOURCE | AP

Science

Montana Man Faces Sentencing For Cloning Giant Sheep To Breed Large Sheep For Captive Trophy Hunts

Published

4 days ago

2024-09-30

Kiara Grace

HELENA, Montana – An 81-year-old Montana man is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court in Great Falls on Monday for illegally combining tissue and testicles from huge sheep taken in Central Asia and the United States to make hybrid sheep for captive trophy hunts in Texas and Minnesota.

According to court records, prosecutors are not seeking a prison sentence for Arthur “Jack” Schubarth of Vaughn, Montana. He is seeking a one-year probationary sentence for breaching federal wildlife trafficking rules. The maximum sentence for both Lacey Act breaches is five years in jail. The fine can be as much as $250,000, or twice the defendant’s financial gain.

Montana Man Faces Sentencing For Cloning Giant Sheep To Breed Large Sheep For Captive Trophy Hunts

Schubarth’s attorney requested a probationary term, claiming that cloning the gigantic Marco Polo sheep hunted in Kyrgyzstan had devastated his client’s “life, reputation, and family.”

However, the sentencing memorandum congratulates Schubarth on successfully cloning the endangered sheep, which he called Montana Mountain King. The animal has been confiscated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

“Jack did something no one else could, or has ever done,” the memo stated. “He built Montana Mountain King on a Montana ranch, in a barn. MMK is an exceptional animal, born of science and from a guy who, if he could rewrite history, would have left the problem of cloning a Marco Polo to Michael Crichton, the author of the science fiction novel Jurassic Park.

Schubarth owns Sun River Enterprises LLC, a 215-acre (87-hectare) alternative livestock ranch that buys, sells, and breeds “alternative livestock” such as mountain sheep, mountain goats, and ungulates, primarily for private hunting preserves where people pay to shoot captive trophy game animals, according to prosecutors. Schubarth stated he’d been in the game farm industry since 1987.

Schubarth pleaded guilty in March to conspiring with five other people to use tissue from an illegally imported Marco Polo sheep to clone the animal and then use the clone and its descendants to create a larger, hybrid species of sheep that would be more valuable for captive hunting operations.

According to court records, the Marco Polo sheep is the world’s largest, weighing 300 pounds (136 kilograms) and with curved horns that can reach 5 feet (1.5 meters) in length.

Schubarth sold MMK semen and hybrid sheep to three people in Texas, while a Minnesota resident sent 74 sheep to Schubarth’s property for insemination at various points during the conspiracy, according to court filings. Schubarth sold one direct descendent of MMK for $10,000 and several sheep with weaker MMK DNA for smaller sums.

According to court filings, Schubarth paid a hunting guide $400 in October 2019 for the testicles of a trophy-sized Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep taken in Montana, which was then excised and sold for semen.

Montana Man Faces Sentencing For Cloning Giant Sheep To Breed Large Sheep For Captive Trophy Hunts

According to authorities, the conspiracy involved bringing in sheep breeds that are not permitted in Montana, including 43 sheep from Texas.

The five co-conspirators were not identified in court documents, but Schubarth’s plea agreement requires him to fully cooperate with prosecutors and testify if called upon. Montana wildlife officials stated the situation is still under investigation.

Schubarth, in a letter attached to the sentencing statement, stated that he becomes tremendously passionate about any project he undertakes, including his “sheep project,” and is embarrassed of his conduct.

“I got my normal mindset clouded by my enthusiasm and looked for any grey area in the law to make the best sheep I could for this sheep industry,” he wrote in his diary. “My family has never been broke, but we are now.”

SOURCE | AP