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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A team of scientists has confirmed the discovery of a cave on the moon not far from where Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed 55 years ago, and they suspect hundreds more could be ready to host future astronauts.
A team led by Italian researchers reported Monday that they have evidence of a sizable cave accessible from the deepest known trench on the moon, located in the Mare Tranquillitatis, just 400 kilometers (250 miles) from the Apollo 11 landing site.
This pit, like at least 200 others found there, was formed by the collapse of a lava tube.
The researchers analyzed radar measurements from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and compared the results with lava tubes on Earth. Their findings are published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
The scientists said the radar data revealed only the beginnings of the underground cavern. They estimated it is at least 40 meters (130 feet) wide and tens of meters long, and possibly much longer.
“For more than 50 years, lunar caves have remained a mystery, so it is exciting to finally be able to prove their existence,” Leonardo Carrer and Lorenzo Bruzzone of the University of Trento wrote in an email.
According to scientists, most of the craters appear to be located on the moon’s ancient lava plains. There may also be some at the satellite’s south pole, where NASA plans to conduct manned lunar landings in the coming years. Craters there are believed to contain frozen water that could provide drinking water and rocket fuel.
The findings suggest that there may be hundreds of craters and thousands of lava tubes on the moon. These types of places could serve as natural shelters for astronauts, protecting them from cosmic rays and solar radiation as well as micrometeorites. The team said that building a habitat from scratch would likely be more time-consuming and challenging, as you would have to take into account that cave walls might need to be reinforced to prevent collapse.
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