Cave Found on Moon Close to Apollo 11 Site: The discovery of a large cave on the moon by a multinational team of scientists may open the door for future lunar settlements. The Apollo 11 landing site in the Sea of Tranquilly, where astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin accomplished the momentous moonwalk 55 years ago, is only 400 km away from the cave.
An Italian-led research team that examined radar data gathered by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) revealed the discovery. According to their research, which was published on Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy, the Mare Tranquillitatis pit—the lowest known hole on Earth—leads to a cave that is up to 80 metres long and 45 metres broad. The cave is around the size of 14 tennis courts and is located 150 metres below the lunar surface.
The cave was characterised by Lorenzo Bruzzone of the University of Trento in Italy as “probably an empty lava tube,” raising the possibility that such formations could act as naturally occurring shelters for upcoming lunar explorers. These subterranean buildings may keep the inside temperature reasonably constant while offering defence against the severe lunar environment, including solar radiation, cosmic rays, and micrometeorites.
Moon caverns have been a mystery for more than fifty years. Leonardo Carrer and Lorenzo Bruzzone of the University of Trento stated in an email, “so it was exciting to be able to finally prove the existence” of one, according to the Associated Press.
According to studies, lava tubes—vast underground passageways constructed by ancient volcanic activity—likely collapsed to form this cave and the more than 200 other pits found on the moon. Because these lava tubes naturally give structural protection and require less construction work, they could be very beneficial for the establishment of lunar outposts.
The study’s first author, Leonardo Carrer, stated that pits on the moon were first observed by lunar orbiters more than ten years ago. “Many are believed to be skylights that lead to caverns below ground, like lava tubes.”
Large rocks up to ten metres broad were known to be scattered around the bottom of the Mare Tranquillitatis pit, which the LRO had previously photographed. Until now, it was unclear how closely the hole was connected to a subterranean cave. The 100-meter-wide hole has a sloping floor that leads to the cave and extends tens of metres westward, as confirmed by the new data and computer simulations.
