The Moon has Hidden Depths: Vast Cave Discovered by Researchers

Scientists have found a hole in the Moon for the first time. They think this cave, which is over 100 meters deep, might be a suitable place for people to build some permanent settlement. These caves would form good foundations for moon bases or emergency lunar refuges. Naturally, the inside temperatures are relatively constant and astronauts are shielded from cosmic rays, solar irradiation, and micrometeoroids The researchers claim that this cave is just one of possibly hundreds of unknown caves deep beneath our feet. To establish a lasting human presence on the moon competing countries must safeguard their astronauts from radiation including extreme temperatures and space weather. Nevertheless, she said that it is so deep down into the moon's surface that astronauts may require ropes to climb down having to use “jetpacks or a lift” to return back . Discovered by Lorenzo Bruzzone and Leonardo Carrer, two Italian researchers from the University of Trento, who used radar to explore a pit entrance on a rocky plain called the Mare Tranquillitatis. According to the lunar data acquired from the LRO Radar reflectometer, this pit, which is found in Mare Tranquillitatis is directly linked to a cave measuring approximately 45 meters in width and about 80 meters long (which is equivalent to fourteen tennis courts). This underground chamber lies around 150 meters beneath the surface. It can be seen without any telescope and it lies near the Apollo 11 landing site. The cave has an opening on its surface where people can look through before taking steps down into straight-down walls that overhang into space below. It was created millions or billions of years ago when molten rock spilled onto the moon’s surface leaving a hole through which it passed through sedimentary rocks on its way out. (Source: Google Images)   Prof. Carrer points out that the volcanic caves in Lanzarote Spain are the closest match on Earth. He mentions that the team visited these caves as part of their research. Scientists have spotted at least 200 holes on the Moon, and many in lava areas might connect to big underground lava tunnels. "Caves offer the key building blocks for a possible human outpost without needing complex building," said Leonardo Carrer, who led the study. A lava tube forms when lava flows under a hardened lava surface. As the top lava cools and hardens, the hot lava below keeps moving draining out and leaving a hollow, tube-shaped passage. You can find these tubes on Earth, the Moon, and Mars, and they come in different sizes. The More We Discover, The More Exciting It Gets ~  When Prof. Bruzzone and Prof. Carrer noticed the cave's size, they thought it could serve as an ideal lunar base location. "Life on Earth began in caves so it makes sense we could inhabit them on the Moon," Prof. Carrer says. Researchers haven't explored the cave yet, but they plan to map it using ground-penetrating radar, cameras, or even robots. Scientists had suspicions about lunar caves about 50 years ago. In 2010, a Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission camera captured images of pits that scientists believed might be cave entrances. However, researchers weren't certain about the caves' depth or if they had caved in. Prof. Bruzzone and Prof. Carrer's work has provided answers to these questions, but we still need to learn more about the cave's full extent. "We have high-quality surface images with up to 25cm resolution. We can even spot the Apollo landing sites, but we know nothing about what lies beneath the surface. This presents great opportunities to make discoveries," Francesco Sauro Coordinator of the Topical Team Planetary Caves of the European Space Agency. He believes the study might also help us check out Martian caves down the road. This could lead us to find signs of life on Mars, as any creatures that lived there would have taken shelter in caves safe from the tough conditions on the planet's surface. The Moon cave could be good for humans, but scientists also say it might help answer big questions about the Moon's past and even our solar system. The rocks in the cave don't get hit by space weather as much, so they can show a detailed history of geology going back billions of years. ''Lunar cave systems are considered excellent locations for future crewed bases because the thick rock ceiling can protect people and infrastructure from the extreme temperature changes on the lunar surface and from high-energy radiation," said Katherine Joy, a professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Manchester. "However, we still know very little about the underground structures beneath these pit entrances."