The moon and Q
The acoustic attenuation of a sample of lunar basalt 70215 was measured by the method of sphere resonance. A Q of 1185 was achieved under a vacuum of 7 millionths torr after heating the sample. He and CO2 gas caused a small decrease of Q. H2O vapor, however, resulted in a major decrease in Q. The Q of lunar material when measured on earth is low because of adsorbed gases. However, it is not clear that this effect explains completely the observed high lunar Q.