For the first time in decades, scientists re-examined the data of Apollo 17, which was abandoned on the Moon.
Artificial intelligence was used in the research led by Francesco Civilini from the Goddard Space Flight Center of the US Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA).
According to the news in AA, previously unknown seismic activities on the Moon were detected for the first time in the analysis of data examined with modern algorithms.
In the study, it was stated that the Moon’s surface expands and contracts according to cold and hot weather, and mild tremors were detected emanating from the landing module of Apollo 17, which was a few hundred meters away from the devices recording Moonquakes.
It was concluded that a particular type of moonquake, called a “sudden thermal moonquake”, was caused by the heating and cooling of nearby spacecraft and not from natural sources.
It was emphasized in the research that these tremors were different from sudden thermal moonquakes.
Experts believe that understanding moonquakes will be important for future exploration as NASA and its partners build permanent bases on the Moon’s surface.
While the USA sent its first astronauts to the Moon with Apollo 11 in 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the surface of the Moon in this adventure. During the mission, astronauts collected samples of rocks and dust found on the Moon. Within the scope of the Apollo Program launched by NASA on July 12, 1969, 12 people landed on the Moon surface with the “Apollo 11” mission. The Apollo Lunar Program ended in 1972 with the “Apollo 17” mission.
The research was published in the journal “Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets”