‘Human-friendly’ cave discovered

A cave about eighty meters long in Selini Discover for the first time Scientists, who argue that it could be “an ideal place for people to live.”

The cave appears to be accessible from an open pit in the Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of ​​Tranquility), a lava plain where Apollo 11 astronauts land on the moon for the first timefor more than half a century.

Analysis of data collected by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has revealed that Mare Tranquillitatis, the deepest known crater on the Moon, leads to a cavern 45 meters wide and up to 80 meters long. Opposite area In 14 tennis courtsThe depth of the cave is about 150 meters below the surface of the earth.

According to BBCThe cave contains a lunar skylight, leading to vertical, overhanging walls, and a sloping floor that may extend further underground. It was created millions or billions of years ago.when lava flowed onto the moon, creating a tunnel through the rocks, likely just one of hundreds of caves on the moon.

“It’s really exciting. When you make these discoveries and look at these images, you realize that you are the first person in human history to see this.” The professor at the University of Trento in Italy said, Leonardo Street, who is he and his colleague Lorenzo Bruzzoni, Make the discovery.

Once Professor Bruzzoni and Carrier realized how large the cave was, they realized it could be a good place for a lunar base. “After all, life on Earth began in caves.So it makes sense that humans could live on the moon.” Professor Carrier said.

The cave has not yet been fully explored.But researchers hope that using radar, cameras or even ground-penetrating robots to map it could provide answers to these questions, as further research could provide answers. Basic questions about the history of the Moon and even our solar system.

After all, the rocks inside the cave will not have suffered from erosion or corrosion due to space weathering, so they can provide an extended space. geological record It dates back billions of years.

Scientists first realized there might be caves on the moon about 50 years ago. But researchers didn’t know how deep the caves were or whether they would collapse.

Also, according to the researchers, the discovery of the cave in question It may open the door to finding evidence of life on Mars. Because if it did exist, it would almost certainly be inside caves protected from the elements on the planet’s surface.