NASA Just Confirmed The Moon Has Shrunk 148 Feet — And Thousands Of Faults Are Waking Up

The Moon is shrinking, and scientists now know by how much. A new study published October 14, 2026 in The Planetary Science Journal used more than 17 years of images from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to map more than 10,000 young thrust faults across the Moon. It estimates that the lunar radius has shrunk by about 45 meters (148 feet) over the last 400 to 800 million years. In this video, we cover why a cooling Moon cracks like a drying raisin, why moonquakes can last for hours, the active fault Apollo 17 astronauts drove right over, the strongest shallow moonquake on record, linked to the lunar south pole, and the math that turns a 1-in-20-million daily risk into roughly 1 in 5,500 over a decade-long base. We also look at what this means for Artemis IV, NASA's first planned crewed landing in early 2028, and the new seismometers heading to the Moon. Every fact in this video comes from peer-reviewed research and official NASA and Smithsonian releases. Sources are listed below. 🔔 Subscribe for space news that sticks to the facts. #MoonShrinking #Moonquakes #NASA #Artemis #SpaceNews #LunarScience #Apollo17 #MoonBase #PlanetaryScience #Space 🔗 NEWS SOURCES Smithsonian, Oct 2026: New Study Reveals How Much the Moon Is Shrinking. https://www.si.edu/newsdesk/releases/new-s... Phys.org: Lunar fault maps reveal how much the moon is shrinking (45 m / 148 ft). https://phys.org/news/2026-10-lunar-fault-... The Planetary Science Journal, Watters et al. 2026 (the study itself). https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847... Universe Today: details on the 2026 paper (Mercury comparison, landslides, Lunar Geophysical Network). https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the... Smithsonian, small mare ridges study (Dec 2025): 2,634 ridges, ages 124 vs. 105 million years. https://www.si.edu/newsdesk/releases/smith... NASA, 2019: Shrinking Moon May Be Generating Moonquakes (28 quakes, 8 within 30 km, apogee pattern). https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/shrinkin... NASA Science: Apollo samples and LRO help forecast moonquakes (Lee-Lincoln, 5.6 million years, LEMS, Farside Seismic Suite). https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/moon... ScienceDaily: Apollo 17 moonquake study (1 in 20 million, 1 in 5,500, tall landers). https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025... Science Advances paper: Watters & Schmerr 2025. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv... NASA: Shrinking Moon causing faults near the lunar south pole (de Gerlache Rim 2). https://www.nasa.gov/solar-system/moon/shr... EurekAlert: south pole study (quakes lasting hours, Schmerr's gravel quote). https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1... Geophysical Research Letters, Onodera 2026: repeating shallow moonquakes. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/do... Wikipedia: Artemis III (revised 2027 Earth-orbit mission, crew). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis_III NASA: Artemis IV mission (first landing, about a week at the south pole). https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-iv/ NASA: LEMS instrument. https://science.nasa.gov/lems/ Firefly: Blue Ghost Mission 2 (no earlier than 2027). https://fireflyspace.com/missions/blue-gho...