Understanding the Effects of Moonquakes on Lunar Infrastructure Based on the Data Obtained from ALSEP
Conference
Caluk, N, Whitman, D. (2024). Understanding the Effects of Moonquakes on Lunar Infrastructure Based on the Data Obtained from ALSEP
. 1072-1084. 10.1061/9780784485736.094
Caluk, N, Whitman, D. (2024). Understanding the Effects of Moonquakes on Lunar Infrastructure Based on the Data Obtained from ALSEP
. 1072-1084. 10.1061/9780784485736.094
NASA’s plan to return humans to the lunar surface with the Artemis program and the fast growth of commercial space companies require an understanding of the structural response of future habitation components and systems on other planetary bodies that have drastically different environmental factors from Earth such as lower gravity, meteorite impacts, and low atmospheric pressures. One concern is lunar seismic events known as moonquakes. To fully understand the effects of seismic activity on the surface infrastructure, no matter the planetary body, a connection between the science of seismology and the structural engineering of the infrastructure needs to be well-defined and applied. Once the connection has been established, the missing data and knowledge gaps need to be assessed to provide for structurally stable, efficient, and sustainable lunar infrastructure designs that take into consideration both the structural integrity and fatigue of the building due to the prolonged seismic events, and the serviceability of the highly sensitive infrastructure and experiments onboard the surface habitat. Four different moonquake types are mentioned, with a focus on the most energetic ones, the shallow moonquakes. Different applications of the limited data for preliminary analysis were mentioned, while also stating the missing data points for future, more realistic and accurate design and analysis. An example of shallow moonquake event amplification has been described and applied in the structural assessment of a lunar base concept that was part of the first author’s dissertation research.