NASA Astronauts Discover Deepest Cave on the Moon

NEW YORK – Significant discovery of a subsurface cave network Moon . These caves are believed to have formed due to cooling lava and have great potential as shelters for future astronauts.

This discovery is supported by data obtained from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

This cave is just one of hundreds that may still be hidden in an “undiscovered underground world,” the researchers added.

Many countries are racing against time to make permanent human settlements on the Moon possible. However, to do so, they need to protect astronauts from radiation, extreme temperatures, and space weather.

Helen Sharman, the first British astronaut to travel into space, told BBC News that a newly discovered cave on the moon looked suitable for a base.

Sharman estimates that humans could live in a lunar tunnel for 20-30 years.

However, Sharman said the cave is so deep that astronauts may need to use a rope to descend and use a “jetpack or lift” to exit.

Lorenzo Bruzzone and Leonardo Carrer of the University of Trento in Italy discovered the cave by using radar to penetrate the opening of a hole in a rocky plain called the Mare Tranquillitatis.

This hole is visible to the naked eye from Earth – and was the landing site of Apollo 11 in 1969.

The cave has a skylight on the surface of the Moon. It also leads to vertical and hanging walls. The bottom is slanted and is thought to extend further underground.

These caves were formed millions or billions of years ago when lava flowed on the Moon creating tunnels through the rock.

Professor Carrer said the cave could be compared to volcanic caves in Lanzarote, Spain. The researchers visited the caves in Europe as part of their study.

(wbs)