https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-moon-shrinking-nasa-missions-pj0j9wp7w
Moonquakes due to shrinkage. The moon is shrinking and by doing so is putting future moon plans in jeopardy.
[...] A new study estimates that the circumference of Earth's only natural satellite has decreased by about 45m over the past few hundred million years.
That isn't a lot of shrinkage, but apparently enough to lead to problems.
[...] ... the shrinkage causes potentially severe "moonquakes" around the lunar South Pole
[...] Right where they, NASA, want to land and build their new moon base.
[...] Its diminished outline is a result of the moon's iron core cooling and contracting over time. In much the same way as a grape wrinkles as it shrinks to become a raisin, the lunar surface
And the analogy explanation. The moon is like a grape ... not cheese. Do you know what goes with cheese? Wine. That is made from grapes. See it all ties together.
How much has earth shrunk or grown in the past few hundred million years?
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 02 2024, @08:35AM
...of ice at the lunar south pole. Makes perfect sense to me.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by aafcac on Friday February 02 2024, @04:22PM
I"m not sure that earthquakes are really that big of a deal. We're not going to be building cities the scale of the ones on the earth, so floating the buildings in a fluid to block the s-waves from the earthquake and some damping, or deflection, for the p-waves is going to be much of an issue, compared with all the other issues associated with building on the moon.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by DannyB on Friday February 02 2024, @05:17PM (4 children)
Could a moon base be designed of multiple rigid modules interconnected loosely by tunnels or tubes so that the overall base is more resistant to moon quakes?
Would it help to slightly elevate modules from the surface by material that can withstand horizontal wobble and maybe some vertical wobble?
Universal health care is so complex that only 32 of 33 developed nations have found a way to make it work.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Friday February 02 2024, @07:44PM (1 child)
Oh, sort of like the Internet [rollcall.com]! Or maybe a habitrail. Since you mentioned it, it made me think about how Terran tunnels manage punctuated seismic stresses. I found a tangential video from Practical Engineering for how ITER engineers its reactor [youtu.be] to handle severe physical stresses, and while it doesn't cover this case explicitly, I suspect it provides some insights.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 03 2024, @03:16AM
Brings to mind the Bay Area Rapid Transit transbay tube under the San Francisco bay.
I had already seen what a quake can do to aboveground structures and the aftermath of burning plastics in airliner fires.
For me, every commute was a thrill ride. There are too many things I knew, and not enough assurances that an Earthquake would leave the tubes alone.
I guess it's a moot point now, as it seems San Francisco is not to be a financial or business destination and the existence of lucrative employment which compels the risk taking no longer exists as the city morphs into a toilet.
(Score: 2) by crafoo on Friday February 02 2024, @08:35PM
certainly. that sounds like a reasonable solution. it's good that we know about this challenge now. I'm very optimistic about the human spirit, our ingenuity, and our ability to overcome whatever challenges we find if we decide to build a permanent moon base.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Saturday February 03 2024, @02:31AM
Just import Tokyo. Problem solved!!
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Friday February 02 2024, @09:47PM
Could i get that analogy in a drunk driving an automobile or, maybe, a boat-plane, driven by a guy named Larry who may or may not like Leisure Suits and finds the condom, analogy?
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 04 2024, @01:26AM
Get something like the Tsar bomba and set it off as deep as you can dig. Shake it all up and relieve the tensions.