Scientists have confirmed the existence of a cave on the Moon, not far from where Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed 55 years ago, and believe there are hundreds more that could accommodate future astronauts, to shield them from cosmic rays and micrometeorites.
An Italian-led team claimed on Monday that evidence points to a large cave accessible from the Moon’s deepest known lunar pit. It is located in the Sea of Tranquility, just 400 kilometers from the Apollo 11 landing site, as reported by CNN.
Approximately 200 other caves are located on the Moon were formed by the collapse of a lava tube.
Researchers evaluated radar measurements taken by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and compared the results to Earth’s lava tubes. Their findings were published in the journal “Nature Astronomy.”
According to the scientists, the radar data only shows the first part of the underground hollow. They estimate that it is at least 40 meters wide and tens of yards (meters) long, if not more.
“Lunar caves have been a mystery for nearly 50 years. So it was amazing to finally verify its existence,” Leonardo Carrer and Lorenzo Bruzzone of the University of Trento wrote in an email, according to NBC News.
Most of the lunar pits appear to be on the Moon’s ancient lava plains. There could possibly be some on the Moon’s south pole, where NASA plans to land its astronauts later this decade. Permanently shadowed craters are thought to contain frozen water, which might provide drinking water and rocket fuel.
Throughout NASA’s Apollo program, 12 astronauts landed on the Moon, beginning with Armstrong and Aldrin in 1969.
The caves can be useful as building habitats from the ground up would be more time-consuming and difficult, even after accounting for the possibility of needing to reinforce cave walls to prevent collapse, the study stated.
Rocks and other materials found inside these caves, unaffected by years of severe surface conditions, can also help scientists better understand how the Moon evolved, particularly in terms of volcanic activity.