We’re going back to the moon, and that, itself, is just a little bit terrifying.
The lunar surface is not known for being conducive to easy travel and exploration. A number of missions sent there have failed due to issues with the lunar surface. In fact, at the beginning of the year, a Japanese lander failed because it landed upside-down. It’s easy to mess up and very, very expensive to do so.
While numerous challenges hinder exploration of the lunar surface, there may be a solution hidden beneath the surface itself—lunar caves. A study published in Nature Astronomy has provided the first direct evidence of these subterranean havens, with researchers uncovering a lengthy cave near the historic Apollo 11 landing site. This discovery isn’t just a scientific curiosity; it’s a potential game-changer for lunar exploration and settlement. This discovery could be foundational to humanity’s ability to make significant progress towards permanent lunar settlement.
It seems there are a massive number of these systems, much like on Earth, and they can potentially offer astronauts safety and stability during long missions. They also reveal slices into the moon’s past — by being able to see the different layers of the crust without drill efforts, scientists will have a much better idea of what the moon looked like centuries ago, and mineral and water deposits in the walls of the caves could allow us to support and plan sustainable lunar projects. Liquid water, ice water, liquid oxygen, and many other useful elements could give us the ability to refine rocket fuel on the moon itself, a process that could theoretically become the building blocks to a colony.
Accessing these subterranean realms, often hundreds of feet below the surface, will require innovative engineering solutions. The structural integrity of these ancient formations remains a concern, especially given the Moon’s occasional seismic activity. Despite these challenges, this is an entirely new aspect of lunar discovery that is now available, and something scientists seem excited to potentially explore with NASA’s Artemis missions.
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