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Research Reveals Shrinking Moon Could Mean More Moonquakes
Researchers found over 1,000 new tectonic ridges showing the Moon has shrunk about 50 meters due to cooling, with implications for future lunar missions.
- New research confirms the Moon is shrinking and identifies over a thousand previously unknown tectonic ridges across the lunar surface.
- Smithsonian planetary scientists found that cooling and contraction produced compressional forces, reducing the Moon's diameter by roughly 50 meters over hundreds of millions of years.
- A small mare ridge in the central South Pole–Aitken Basin shows, according to researchers, `our detection of young, small ridges in the maria, and our discovery of their cause, completes a global picture of a dynamic, contracting moon.`
- Potential moonquake hotspots identified by the findings could affect mission safety and pose challenges for upcoming lunar exploration missions like NASA's Artemis program.
- Upcoming lunar exploration programs, such as NASA's Artemis program, will provide new data that researchers say improves understanding of lunar interior, thermal and seismic history.
28 Articles
28 Articles
Science has discovered for years that our only natural satellite, the Moon, is shrinking. But now, scientists from the Center for Planetary and Earth Studies of the National Air and Space Museum have discovered more than 1,000 previously unknown cracks on the lunar surface.This fact shows that the Moon is contracting and remodeling, according to experts, who have published their findings in a study, published in The Planetary Science Journal and…
The Moon is shrinking and getting wrinkles
The Moon is wrinkling like a drying apple. As its interior slowly cools, the whole thing contracts, and the crust buckles and cracks under the pressure. Smithsonian scientists have now mapped the extent, finding 1,114 previously unknown ridges spread across the Moon's dark volcanic plains — more than doubling the known count to 2,634, according to a study published in The Planetary Science Journal. — Read the rest The post The Moon is shrinking …
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Research reveals shrinking Moon could mean more moonquakes
The find could help keep upcoming lunar exploration missions safe by assessing potential for future moonquakes.
It was imagined as a dead star, a sterile rock frozen for eternity in the space vacuum. Yet, the Moon is undergoing a major physical transformation. In recent years, scientists have observed a fascinating phenomenon: our satellite is shrinking. By cooling, its heart is contracting, forcing its crust to crack and [...]
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