Additional Coverage:
- Scientists have confirmed a cave on the moon that could be used to shelter future explorers (newsbreak.com)
An image captured a plane soaring across the moon’s backdrop on August 30, 2023, in Chicago. In a related discovery, scientists have identified a moon cave close to the historic Apollo 11 landing site, where astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin set foot on the moon 55 years ago. Researchers believe this cave, among potentially hundreds more, could eventually shelter astronauts.
The discovery was made by an Italian-led research team who found signs of a large cave within the moon’s deepest known pit, situated in the Sea of Tranquility, merely 250 miles from where the Apollo 11 mission landed.
The pit is said to have formed from the collapse of a lunar lava tube, similar to over 200 others found on the moon’s surface. Scientists used radar data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to confirm their findings, drawing parallels with similar lava tubes on Earth, as published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
The research received backing from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group, though the content reporting is entirely managed by The Associated Press.