Design of a Lunar Surface Structure. II: Seismic Structural Analysis

Abstract

During the Apollo missions, seismic events with estimated body wave magnitudes of 5.5 were observed. Whereas the terrestrial equivalent can cause moderate to severe damage to buildings, the effects on a lunar structure is not the same, as the lunar geological structure is very different than that of the Earth. The many challenges in predicting the effects of an earthquake are known. Lunar seismic effects are a much greater challenge because of the severe lack of data. Therefore, the authors begin to consider lunar seismic effects to assess the vulnerability of designs that ignore seismicity. A seismic event of body wave magnitude 7 has been developed in this paper based on the best available data and applied to the typical structure. The results indicate that the risk associated with these events is low in part because such structures are designed with a relatively high factor of safety. This paper provides an extensive and specific technical discussion of lunar seismology as applicable to structural design.