Some of the moon’s permanently shadowed craters are thought to contain frozen water that could provide drinking water and fuel for future missions.
The cave was discovered Moon It’s located not far from where Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed 55 years ago, raising hopes that there may be hundreds more sites that can accommodate future astronauts.
The Italian-led team said earlier this week Quite a big cave Accessible through the deepest hole known on the Moon.
It is located in the Sea of Tranquility, just 400 km from the Apollo 11 landing site.
The hole, like over 200 others discovered there, was formed by the collapse of a lava tube.
Such sites could act as natural refuges for astronauts, protecting them from cosmic rays, solar radiation, and even micrometeorite strikes.
The researchers analyzed radar measurements from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft and compared their findings to lava tubes on Earth, and their findings were published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
Scientists say the radar data has only revealed the first part of the underground chamber, which they estimate to be at least 133 feet (40 meters) wide and several tens of meters (six feet) long, possibly more.
“The lunar caves have remained a mystery for more than 50 years, so it’s exciting to finally be able to prove their existence,” Leonardo Carrell and Lorenzo Bruzzone of the University of Trento told The Associated Press.
Shelter with drinking water
Scientists say most of the holes appear to be located in ancient lava plains on the moon.
There may also be some on the moon’s south pole, where NASA plans to land astronauts in 10 years’ time.
Permanently Shadow Crater It is believed there is frozen water there that could provide drinking water and rocket fuel.
NASA’s Apollo program landed 12 astronauts on the moon, beginning with Armstrong and Aldrin on July 20, 1969.
Findings suggest there could be hundreds of holes. Moon And thousands of lava tubes Natural Shelter for future manned missions.
Even taking into account that cave walls may need to be reinforced to stop them collapsing, building a habitat from scratch would be even more time-consuming and difficult, the team said.
The rocks and other materials in these caves, unchanged by hundreds of millions of years of harsh surface conditions, could also help scientists better understand how the Moon evolved, particularly its volcanic activity.
