A closer look at “Moon Shrinking: NASA Study Reveals 10,000 Surface Cracks and Ongoing Seismic Activity”, exactly as the source publishes it. The moon has shrunk by about 150 feet in circumference over the last few hundred million years, according to new research published in the Planetary Science Journal. Scientists identified more than 10,000 young thrust fault scarps—cliff-like cracks—on the lunar surface, evidence of the moon's ongoing contraction as its interior cools. Led by Thomas Watters of the Smithsonian Institution, the study mapped these scarps globally using high-resolution imagery from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
The shrinkage is compared to a grape wrinkling as it dries into a raisin, but unlike a grape's flexible skin, the moon's brittle crust breaks, forming faults. These faults are still active, producing shallow moonquakes that could pose risks for future Artemis landing sites, particularly near the lunar south pole. This listing links straight to the original page, where the content is available in full.