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If the ceiling of a solidified lava tube collapses, it opens a pit that can lead into the rest of the cavelike tube. Lava tubes, also found on Earth, form when molten lava flows beneath a field of cooled lava or a crust forms over a river of lava, leaving a long, hollow tunnel.
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Two of the most prominent pits have visible overhangs that clearly lead to some sort of cave or void, and there is strong evidence that another’s overhang may also lead to a large cave. About 16 of the more than 200 pits are probably collapsed lava tubes, said Tyler Horvath, a UCLA doctoral student in planetary science, who led the new research. Pits were first discovered on the moon in 2009, and since then, scientists have wondered if they led to caves that could be explored or used as shelters. The pits, and caves to which they may lead, would make safer, more thermally stable base camps for lunar exploration and long-term habitation than the rest of the moon’s surface, which heats up to 260 degrees during the day and drops to 280 degrees below zero at night. A team led by planetary scientists at UCLA has discovered shady locations within pits on the moon that always hover around a comfortable 63 degrees Fahrenheit. UCLA researchers have discovered that lunar pits and caves could provide stable temperatures for human habitation.įuture human explorers on the moon might have 99 problems but staying warm or cool won’t be one. To conduct long-term lunar research, bases would have to protect people and equipment from the damaging effects of the heat and cold. Unhospitable. Temperatures on the moon’s surface swing wildly between boiling hot and freezing cold..