Abandoned Apollo 17 lunar lander module caused tremors on the moon

[LymphocyteLover]

So weird!
https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/14/world/moonquakes-apollo-17-scn/index.html

They speculate that the rapid heating of the moon lander (Lunar Module) when the sun hits it, is the cause of some moonquakes. I'm not clear why this would happen, does anyone else get it?

These quakes were detected for a while after Apollo 17 left the moon in the late 1970s. Not clear if this is still happening. If the expansion of the LM can cause a detectable ground quake, what is it doing to the LM structure after so many years?

[tirebiter]

1. Was anybody complaining?

[lastlib]

2. Well, you know the neighbors......

They don't need much excuse to raise a stink......

[LymphocyteLover]

3. apparently the seismic sensors that were left behind were

[SpamWyzer]

4. I have to wonder

what the expansion can be. It must be in the millimeters at least for there to be a signature the sensors can pick up. Fascinating little puzzle. Science!

[LymphocyteLover]

5. yes-- but a few millimetters of expansion can cause a quake? It's very weird.

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. I think "quake" or "tremor" is a bit of an exaggeration

It's movement detectable a few hundred yards away by the instruments Apollo 17 left behind, but it says a human would not notice it. Which may put it more in the class of rumble from traffic that seismometers can detect - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2020.00009/full

[LymphocyteLover]

7. ok, that makes more sense