Pits On The Moon That Remain At A Temperature Perfect For Living In Are Found by Scientists

These geological structures hover at a comfortable temperature and they could be ideal places for shelter.

NASA-funded researchers have found that the shadowed regions in the strange geological structures known as lunar pits hover at a comfortable 17°C (63°F), a wonderful temperature for working and living in. This discovery might fundamentally alter how humans explore the Moon in the future.

The research, which was published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, demonstrates that it appears that the temperature in the pits is different from the temperature on the lunar surface. wild enough. The surface temperature during the two-week long lunar day may be higher than the temperature at which water boils on Earth.

Using computer modeling and data from LRO, the researchers focused on a 100-meter-deep (328-foot) cave in the Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility) and found that the temperature in the pit little fluctuates during the lunar day.

According to LRO project scientist Noah Petro of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, “lunar pits are an interesting feature on the lunar surface.” We can better visualize these distinctive lunar features and the possibility of one day investigating them now that we know they produce a stable thermal environment.

Recent research has revealed lunar pits. They were originally discovered in 2009, and since then, scientists have questioned if they may be entrances to caverns where astronauts could seek refuge from the harsh surface conditions of the Moon, such as abrupt temperature variations, cosmic rays, solar radiation, and micrometeorites.

According to Tyler Horvath, a PhD student in planetary science at the University of California, Los Angeles, “around 16 of the more than 200 pits are presumably collapsed lava tubes.” This implies that at least some of them serve as a cave door or ceiling window.

According to co-author David Paige, head of the Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment, which the team used to monitor the temperature, “Humans evolved living in caves, and to caves, we could return when we dwell on the Moon.”

If all goes as planned, people will return to the Moon’s surface within the next several years, giving these habitats a careful inspection and perhaps even a small habitat within.