Huge Underground Cave on the Moon Discovered for Future Moon Base

TapTechNews July 16th news, scientists have discovered a huge underground cave on the moon that can be directly accessed from the surface, making this location an excellent place to build a future moon base.

An international team recently published research results in the British journal Nature Astronomy, stating that the cave seems to be reachable from an opening located in the Sea of Tranquility (Mare Tranquillitatis), an ancient lava plain where Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin first set foot on the moon more than half a century ago.

Analysis of radar data collected by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) shows that the cave crater in the Sea of Tranquility is the deepest known cave crater on the moon, leading to a cave that is 45 meters wide and 80 meters long, with an area equivalent to 14 tennis courts, located about 150 meters underground from the lunar surface.

Lorenzo Bruzzone from the University of Trento in Italy said that the cave may be an empty lava tube, and can serve as a habitat for future human explorers and is a natural shelter against the harsh lunar environment.

According to TapTechNews, more than a decade ago, lunar orbiters first discovered cave craters on the moon. Many people believe they are skylights connected to underground caves (such as lava tubes), which are huge underground tunnels formed through volcanic activities.

Previous images taken from the LRO showed that the bottom of the cave crater in the Sea of Tranquility is scattered with boulders up to 10 meters wide. But it is not yet clear whether the cave crater is closed or serves as an entrance to an underground cave (such as a collapsed lava tube at the top).

Researchers are keen to study the rocks inside such caves as they may contain clues about the formation and volcanic history of the moon. There may also be water ice in the caves, which is crucial for long-term lunar missions and colonization.

In order to bring humans back to the moon, space agencies are already considering how to assess the structural stability of the caves and reinforce their walls and ceilings. Habitats may also require monitoring systems to warn of movement or seismic activity and provide separate areas for astronauts to retreat in case part of the cave collapses.