By Chris Crawford, Features Editor
The Artemis II launch has renewed our interest in the Moon. Artemis, the Greek goddess of the hunt and of the Moon, gives her name to a program that has again turned our attention skyward. The Earth’s beautiful satellite has long captured our human imagination and has sparked thousands of songs and poems written in its honor.
The Moon is located about 239,000 miles from Earth. In early April, we were treated to stunning photos of the far side, along with images of our own beautiful blue Earth – all from the comfort of our own couches. It was truly inspiring.
The Moon itself is volcanic rock and space debris, dusty and airless, without wind or rain or life as we know it. It is one-quarter the size of Earth and its gravity is one-sixth as strong. That is why earlier Apollo astronauts were able to make a “giant leap for mankind.” Average temperatures fluctuate greatly from 250 degrees Fahrenheit during the day to minus 208 degrees Fahrenheit at night.
We often take the Moon for granted as it waxes and wanes on its regular schedule, occasionally interrupted by an eclipse. Yet our companion is vital to life on Earth. Its gravitational pull drives ocean tides and its steady orbit helps stabilize our climate. Without the Moon, many animals such as corals, some fish and sea turtles would struggle to survive. The light of the Moon tells them when it is time to mate, or how to find the ocean after they hatch, in the case of the turtles. Surfers would sadly miss some great waves without the Moon’s gravitational pull.
More importantly, according to the Institute of Physics, without the Moon, Earth’s rotation would be destabilized. The Earth could tilt so far over that the north and south poles would lie east-west and be burning hot, while the equator would run north-south and be freezing cold.
Another little known fact is that the Moon experiences “moonquakes,” the lunar equivalent of earthquakes. Seismometers placed on the Moon during earlier Apollo missions in 1969 to 1972 recorded thousands of these events. India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission detected a moonquake in 2023 and also found evidence of water, frozen as ice within lunar rock.
NASA scientists believe that the Moon’s interior is slowly cooling and contracting, causing these quakes. Although generally weaker than those on Earth, the shaking from moonquakes can last longer than an hour.
Much of the seismic activity occurs near the Moon’s south pole, where NASA wants to send humans on subsequent Artemis missions. Knowing and planning for moonquakes will dictate how safe, permanent structures on the Moon will need to be built. According to NASA, the lunar south pole was chosen because it also has water, trapped as ice in volcanic rock in higher concentrations than in other areas of the Moon.
There is a lot more to learn about our solitary satellite. NASA’s website, https://www.space.com/ and the Institute of Physics website were consulted for this article.