NASA has chosen a new scientific project to investigate the possibility of a huge lava tube beneath the surface of the moon, extending from the Marius Hills crater, a natural opening that has interested scientists for years.
If the cavity is confirmed, the discovery will not only be important for understanding the volcanic history of the moon, but may also reveal natural sites that will provide future astronauts with protection from radiation and extreme surface temperatures.
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has taken pictures of the crater for years, and one of the angled images revealed a section extending beneath its edge, but the size of the void and whether it is connected to a long tunnel remain unknown.
The strength of the idea lies in the fact that each instrument looks for the cavity in a different way, and when the measurements are combined, a better picture of the subsurface structure can be formed and the size of any possible void can be estimated.
The project brings back to the Moon a technology used during the Apollo missions. Project leader Than Butzig says that reusing active-source seismic methods in planetary science has been a long-held desire of his, as they haven't been used almost as extensively since the seismic surveys conducted by the Apollo astronauts.
The crater, located in the Marius Hills volcanic region, is approximately 65 meters in diameter. Previous images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter revealed a section of its roof hanging off and a void extending beneath it, while its walls exposed layers of ancient volcanic rock. This has fueled speculation for years that the crater is a "window" through which the roof opened onto an older lava tube beneath the surface.
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