
A newly found cave opens opportunities for lunar settlement by humans.
NASA/Illustration by Janet Loehrke/USA TODAY
The discovery of what looks to be the first cave on the moon – at the bottom of a lunar pit 200 feet deep – has jolted the scientific community and spurred hope it could be used as a base to protect future astronauts from the harsh lunar surface.
The pit, known as the Mare Tranquillitatis Pit, is in the Sea of Tranquility, or Mare Tranquillitatis, about 230 miles northeast from the Apollo 11 landing site, where humans first landed on the moon on July 20, 1969.
More: Moon caves? New discovery offers possible shelter for future explorers
We’ve known about the Mare Tranquillitatis Pit, or MTP, since it and other pits were discovered by orbiting lunar satellites in 2009.
But it wasn’t until recently that researchers, analyzing images taken by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2010, realized that MTP contained shaded locations that could indicate caves.
What’s significant about a moon cave?
A lunar cave could provide a permanent base to shield astronauts from the moon’s hostile conditions. Temperatures inside lunar caves are believed to be relatively stable at about 63 degrees, according to an American Geophysical Union report in July 2022.
Unlike Earth, the moon doesn’t have a protective atmosphere or magnetosphere, which shields the planet from solar or cosmic particle radiation, NASA says. That makes the moon’s surface a brutal environment for humans.
Temperatures are extreme, ranging from 260 degrees Fahrenheit in daylight and minus 280 degrees after nightfall, according to NASA. Temperatures are even colder in the permanent shadows of deep craters, some as low as -410 degrees.
Radiation is also a threat. Galactic cosmic rays are waves of energy particles that increase health risks, according to Science Direct.
Where the Mare Tranquillitatis cave is located
The analysis of MTP confirms long-held beliefs of scientists that caves exist on the moon. The caves are thought to be lava tubes created “when molten lava flowed beneath a field of cooled lava, or a crust formed over a river of lava, leaving a long, hollow tunnel,” according to NASA.
Read More – NASA found a cave on the moon. Now, take a look inside.
Leave a Reply