The surface of the moon is dotted with hundreds of small craters, each the size of a large building, and perhaps not only the size of the craters will seem familiar to the astronaut.
Scientists have now measured the temperature in one of these pits at a moderate 63 degrees Fahrenheit (17 degrees Celsius). The mild conditions are a sign that such pits, which can be up to 490 feet (150 meters) in diameter, could offer future astronauts and lunar inhabitants shelter from the extreme conditions of The moonsurface.
Using Lunar Reconnaissance OrbiterThe Diviner experiment scientists read the temperature in a pit located in Mare Tranquillitatis, the dark volcanic floodplain where Apollo 11 landed in 1969. The researchers found that not only was the pit temperate, but conditions remained stable during the lunar day, which lasted about two earth weeks.
“Knowing that they create a stable thermal environment helps us paint a picture of these unique lunar features and the prospect of one day exploring them,” said Noah Petro, orbiter project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. statement.
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From Japanthe SELENE (Kaguya) orbiter. first discovered one of these pits in 2009, scientists have found more than 200 of them. Scientists aren’t sure how each pit formed, but they think at least some lead to lava tubes: long, twisting caverns formed by jets of flowing lava eating away at rock.
Some pits have visible rock overhangs that hint at caves below. Indeed, when these researchers compared their readings with computer simulations of the temperatures in the particular pit they were studying, the results were consistent with the existence of a cave.
If these pits are entrances to lava tubes, that’s a promising sign for future lunar explorers. Some researchers are planning a future where humans visit and even live in the lava tubes of the Moon.
There, underground, the astronauts will have shelter from the extreme temperature fluctuations, radiation and micrometeorites that destroy everything on the lunar surface.
The researchers published the work in the journal Geophysical Research Letters on July 8.
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