Lunar earthquakes could jeopardize future missions.

When people return to the moon, they will have tobe careful to choose a landing site. Because, no matter how serene the world may seem to us, the Moon from Earth, in fact, the satellite of our planet is very restless. Tectonic activity leads to the fact that "moonquakes" occur quite often, as scientists write in a paper published in Nature Geoscience. We know that the moon shudders, because on its surface there are four seismometers installed in the final stages of the Apollo program.

Are there earthquakes on the moon? And how!

These instruments were written off in 1977, but forseven years while the seismometers were working, they registered 28 lunar earthquakes with a magnitude of 1.5 to 5 on the Richter scale. A five-point earthquake can damage a spacecraft or a lunar base nearby.

There are a number of theories about the causesearthquakes, including collisions with meteorites or the gravitational effects of the Earth and the Sun. A group of scientists re-analyzed the data along with the image analysis obtained by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter after launch in 2009.

Circling around the Moon, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbitertook pictures of its surface using an ultra-precise camera. Analysis of the images shows that the lunar surface is covered with shallow, shallow, rocky features: cracks and faults.

According to Thomas Watters, a senior scientistan employee of the Center for Earth and Planet Studies in Washington, who led the team, the cracks are scattered in craters less than 50 million years old, so they should be relatively recent. Images also show that lunar boulders have shifted in recent decades, indicating seismic activity.

This study also sheds some light.on the inner composition of the moon. Since there are no plate tectonics on the Moon, like on Earth, it is believed that lunar earthquakes are caused by both the cooling of the bowels of the moon and gravitational gravity.

However, small moon earthquakes canindicate that the moon has a warm and possibly even molten core. This is despite the general scientific rule that smaller rocky bodies cool faster, says Watters.

NASA is currently working toreturn people to the moon by 2024. The Agency will have to take into account the possibility of the occurrence of lunar earthquakes in order not to accidentally settle in an “active” area.

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