The moon might quickly get a high-tech seismic sensing system — and it may very well be so simple as rolling out cables throughout the lunar floor.
Two latest research recommend that fiber-optic cables laid instantly on the lunar floor may double as delicate detectors for moonquakes, providing a light-weight, low-cost different to conventional seismometers. The concept builds on a method referred to as distributed acoustic sensing by which laser pulses despatched via optical fibers can decide up tiny vibrations alongside all the size of the fibers, in response to a statement from Los Alamos Nationwide Laboratory.
Utilizing this methodology, a single cable may operate like hundreds of seismic sensors directly, dramatically increasing protection in comparison with the handful of devices deployed throughout the Apollo program. Those Apollo-era seismometers revealed that the moon is surprisingly active, recording thousands of quakes between 1969 and 1977 — but the tools were heavy, expensive and limited in reach.
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“The moon has a lot of seismic activity, but deploying traditional seismic sensors like seismometers is extremely difficult and costly,” Carly Donahue, a scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory and corresponding author on the two papers, said in the statement. “Fiber-optic cables are lightweight, robust and inexpensive, so we wondered: Could they be used on the surface of the moon to detect seismic activity there?”
Moonquakes themselves are very different from earthquakes. Without tectonic plates, the moon’s tremors are driven by tidal forces from Earth, meteorite impacts and extreme temperature swings as the lunar surface heats and cools. The result is shaking that can last far longer than on Earth because seismic energy dissipates slowly in the moon’s fractured interior.
Studying moonquakes will provide new insight on the composition of the moon’s core and whether it has faults, the researchers said. However, understanding this activity is more than a scientific curiosity. As NASA pushes toward a sustained human presence on the moon through its Artemis program, seismic data will be critical for astronaut safety and infrastructure planning. Long-lasting vibrations could affect habitats, landing pads and other equipment, while mapping moonquake activity will help engineers choose safer base locations and design structures that can withstand repeated stress.
“Seismometers sit in one location and are good at collecting data from that one site. But what about further away? We wanted to know if it would be possible to use a robot or rover to launch fiber-optic cables across many kilometers on the surface of the moon without burying them and still get useful data,” Donahue said in the statement. “If so, it would be a much cheaper, more efficient way to gather data without requiring an astronaut to travel long distances to install sensors or the extensive on-site support systems used during the Apollo missions.”
Fiber optics could be particularly well suited to the lunar environment. On Earth, such cables are typically buried to reduce noise, but experiments suggest that on the airless moon, cables placed right on the surface can still capture strong signals.
As part of the first study, published in February 2026 within the journal Icarus, researchers buried the fiber optics at a number of depths in an indoor lab at Los Alamos and analyzed information from the sensors that recorded regional earthquakes, in addition to simulated seismic waves, revealing burial depth didn’t considerably influence the readability of the sign. This, in flip, may considerably simplify deployment, permitting robotic missions to unspool miles of sensing traces with out the necessity for digging or complicated set up.
In the meantime, the second research, published March 17 within the journal Earth and Area Science, discovered that thicker, stiffer fiber-optic cables with constant contact with the lunar floor produce stronger alerts. Nevertheless, growing cable thickness additionally provides weight, highlighting a key trade-off for area missions, Donahue mentioned within the assertion.
Past moonquakes, the identical know-how may additionally assist observe how far mud and particles unfold throughout spacecraft landings, which is a vital consider assessing sandblast-related dangers for future lunar operations.
If validated on the moon, the strategy may remodel how scientists research not simply lunar exercise, however planetary our bodies extra broadly — together with Earth. For now, it factors to a compelling chance: The subsequent leap in lunar exploration would possibly depend on leveraging fiber-optic know-how.
