India's lunar rover discovers first evidence of moonquake since 1970s

India's lunar lander has reportedly detected seismic activity on the surface of the moon, which, if proven true, is the first detection since the 1970s.

India's lunar rover discovers first evidence of moonquake since 1970s
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The Apollo missions between 1969 and 1977 were the first to detect seismic activity on the surface of the moon, revealing that the moon was much more complex than meets the eye, with geological activity still occurring deep within its core.

Now, India's Chandrayaan-3 mission, the nation's first mission to the lunar surface, which has so far been successful with the landing of the Vikram lander on the moon's south pole on August 23, has detected what the Indian Space Research Organization are claiming as a "natural" moonquake.

Vikram's Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA), a device designed to detect seismic activity beneath the lunar surface, detected the movements of the Pragyan rover, but then recorded an event on August 26 that appears to be a "natural one". It's data such as this that will help researchers paint a much clearer picture of the inner workings of the moon and its overall evolution since its formation.