Seismic activity in the Moon's soil could be due to impact from meteorites in the past or local heat-related effects, according to ISRO's preliminary analysis of data received from Chandrayaan-3's quake-detecting instrument. However, detailed studies are needed to get more insights from the data, they said.
Their research paper, published in the journal Icarus, is a summary of observations made on 190 hours of data recorded by the Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA).
ILSA is one of the five major major scientific instruments, all of them carried by Chandrayaan-3's Vikram lander and Pragyaan rover together. Chandrayaan-3 made a soft-landing on the Moon's south pole on August 23, 2023.
The quake-detecting ILSA was operated continuously until September 2, 2023, after which it was switched off and was packed back up, before the lander was relocated to a new point roughly 50 centimetres away from the initial one, the researchers from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) explained.
