NASA’s Ambitious Lunar Mission
The American space agency is not sending just one, but two seismometers to the far side of the moon. By recording moonquakes, NASA hopes to gain more knowledge about the moon’s composition and determine if future astronauts need to worry about impacting micrometeorites.
Mission Timeline and Objectives
The two seismometers are set to arrive on the moon’s far side in 2026—the side that is perpetually turned away from Earth. They will be positioned in a large impact crater approximately 500 kilometers from the moon’s south pole. There, they will listen for and register moonquakes.
Reviving Lunar Seismology
This is not entirely a first—the Apollo program also placed seismometers on the moon. However, those instruments have been non-operational for decades. With the new seismometers, part of the Farside Seismic Suite (FSS), NASA aims to receive seismic data from the moon for the first time in nearly 50 years.
Advanced Technology
FSS is not merely a replay of past efforts. While the Apollo missions’ seismometers operated on the near side of the moon, the new devices will be situated on the far side. Additionally, the seismometers arriving in 2026 are about 30 times more sensitive than those used during Apollo missions. The expectation is that this advanced sensitivity will yield a wealth of new information.
Investigating Micrometeorite Impacts
Researchers expect these new instruments to detect even the tremors caused by micrometeorites striking the lunar surface. This is crucial as it will provide NASA with insights into the frequency at which these tiny space rocks, about the size of pebbles, impact the moon. This data is especially relevant for NASA’s upcoming plans to send astronauts back to the lunar surface.
Solving Lunar Mysteries
Researchers also hope these seismometers will answer a pressing question that emerged during the Apollo missions but was never resolved. Apollo’s seismometers on the near side strangely detected minimal seismic activity from the far side. This could mean either fewer quakes occur on the far side, or something within the moon absorbs the vibrations originating there, preventing detection on the near side. “The FSS will provide answers to lunar questions that have puzzled us for decades,” predicts lead researcher Mark Panning. “We can’t wait to receive the data.” However, patience is required as the FSS is still under construction.
Drawing Inspiration from Mars InSight
For the design and construction of the FSS, NASA looked to its Mars InSight mission for inspiration. This mission, now concluded, used a seismometer to record marsquakes for the first time. In total, it detected over 1,300 marsquakes, significantly enhancing our understanding of Mars’s crust, mantle, and core. “We have learned so much about Mars thanks to this instrument, and we are excited to leverage that experience to solve the moon’s mysteries,” says Philippe Lognonné, a researcher from the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, which collaborated closely with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) on InSight and is now contributing to the FSS project. “We’ve explored Mars together, and soon we will look at the moon knowing we have built something together there too,” adds Ed Miller from JPL. “That makes us very proud.”
Launch and Mission Durability
The FSS is slated for launch in 2026. NASA hopes that the seismometers will endure the prolonged cold nights and extremely hot days on the moon for at least 4.5 months, collecting an abundance of new data. This information will aid scientists for years in unraveling the moon’s mysteries.
