An Italian team of scientists on Monday confirmed a sizable cave on the moon that could house future astronauts. The team also suspected hundreds of more such caves. They also claimed that these caves are not far from where Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed 55 years ago. The team said that there is evidence of a cave which is accessible from the deepest known pit on the moon and is located at the Sea of Tranquility, just 250 miles (400 kilometres) from Apollo 11’s landing site.
The pit was created by the collapse of a lava tube. The Italian team used NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to analyse radar measurements and compared the subsequent results with lava tubes on Earth, the findings of which are published in the journal Nature Astronomy. According to radar data, only the initial part of the underground cavity is revealed. The researchers estimate that the pit is at least 130 feet (40 meters) wide and tens of yards long. “Lunar caves have remained a mystery for over 50 years. So it was exciting to be able to finally prove the existence of one”, Leonardo Carrer and Lorenzo Bruzzone of the University of Trento, wrote in an email.
Possibility of caves on Soutgh Pole
As per scientists most of these pits are seemingly located in the moon’s ancient lava plains. They suspect that there could be some more at the moon’s south pole, where only India’s ISRO has reached successfully and the US is planning to conceive NASA’s astronaut landings later this decade. These permanently shadowed craters are believed to have frozen water that could provide drinking water and rocket fuel.
These pits can also protect astronauts from micrometeorite strikes. Moreover, rocks and other materials inside the caves can be resourceful in understanding how the moon evolved, especially involving its volcanic activity as the inside material could be unaltered by the harsh surface conditions.
(With inputs from agencies)
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