Wang Jimin
Wang Jimin
[New Sancai Compilation and First Release] Scientists have confirmed that there is a cave on the moon, not far from where Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed 55 years ago, and suspected There are also hundreds of caves that could accommodate future astronauts.
An Italian-led research team reported on July 15 that there is evidence that the deepest known crater on the moon can lead to a sizable cave. It is located in the Sea of Tranquility, only 400 kilometers away from the Apollo 11 landing site.
Like more than 200 other pits found there, this one was formed by the collapse of a lava tube.
The researchers analyzed radar measurements from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and compared the results to lava tubes on Earth. Their findings were published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
Scientists said the radar data revealed only the initial portion of the underground cavern. They estimated it to be at least 40 meters wide and dozens of meters long, possibly even longer.
"Moon caves have been a mystery for more than fifty years. So it's exciting to be able to finally prove their existence," Leonardo Carrer and Lorenzo University of Trento, Italy Lorenzo Bruzzone wrote in an email.
According to scientists, most of the craters appear to be located in the moon's ancient lava plains. There may also be some at the moon's south pole, which is where NASA astronauts plan to land later this decade. The permanently shielded crater is believed to contain frozen water that could provide drinking water and rocket fuel.
During NASA's Apollo program, 12 astronauts landed on the moon, starting with Armstrong and Aldrin on July 20, 1969.
The findings indicate that there may be hundreds of craters and thousands of lava tubes on the moon. These places can serve as natural shelters for astronauts, protecting them from cosmic and solar radiation as well as micrometeorite impacts. Even taking into account that cave walls may need to be reinforced to prevent collapse, building a habitat from scratch would be more time-consuming and challenging, the team said.
The rocks and other material inside these caves - which have been untouched by harsh surface conditions for eons - could also help scientists better understand how the moon evolved, particularly involving its volcanic activity.
According to Wikipedia information, there was actually a theory in the past that the interior of the moon was hollow, called the "hollow moon theory." According to Wikipedia, "Since naturally formed stars cannot be hollow in astronomical terms, this theory also questions whether the moon is an artificial star."
Therefore, several scientists already supported this theory in the 1960s. For example, "Nobel Prize winner Dr. Harold Clayton Urey once pointed out that the main reason for the low density of the moon is that a large part of the moon's internal structure is hollow; and American astronomer Carl Carl Edward Sagan believed that natural satellites could not be hollow, so he suspected that the moon was artificially constructed. Therefore, the discovery of many caves inside the moon seems to echo this "hollow moon theory". We can calm down. We will wait for more evidence later to see which theory is closer to reality.
(Compiled by: Wang Jimin)
(Editor: Jiang Qiming)
(Source of the article: Compiled and published by New Sancai)
