As the global climate crisis leads to record temperatures around the world, there is actually one place in the universe that is currently at a comfortable temperature – craters on the surface of the moon.
These lunar pits, a set of caves and collapsed lava tubes dug into the surface, were discovered by NASA as potential thermally stable sites for both mechanical and human research, resting at a balmy 63 degrees Fahrenheit (or about 17 degrees Celsius ).
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The new data comes from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft and computer modeling, part of a lunar exploration initiative to map the lunar surface first launched in 2009 — the spacecraft’s orbital mission later was extended and assigned several more lunar science objectives designed to reveal information about the lunar environment. The pits themselves were first discovered on the original LRO mapping expedition.
“Moon craters are a fascinating feature of the lunar surface,” LRO project scientist Noah Petro wrote in a NASA release. “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.”
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Temperatures on the surface of the Moon are generally not as mild as in the craters, with daytime temperatures reaching a high of 260 degrees Fahrenheit (about 127 degrees Celsius) and nighttime lows of -280 Fahrenheit (about -173 degrees Celsius). NASA says the pits are being considered as possible cave networks that could be safely explored or used as shelters from cosmic rays, solar radiation and micrometeorites that affect space expeditions. Several of the pits show evidence of rock overhangs and other outcrops that provide needed shade from the extreme heat and suggest subsurface caverns large enough to enter.
NASA scientists – including David Page, who co-authored the temperature measurement paper and leads the Diviner lunar radiometer experiment aboard LRO – say this temperature discovery could make such a study of the Moon much easier for us non-mechanics beasts. “Humans evolved living in caves, and we may return to caves when we live on the moon,” he said.
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