Scientists Discover Extensive Subsurface Caves on the Moon Using NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Data

Scientists Discover Extensive Subsurface Caves on the Moon Using NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Data
Image credit: NASA

An international team of scientists has uncovered evidence of extensive subsurface caves on the Moon using data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). By re-analyzing radar data from LRO’s Miniature Radio-Frequency (Mini-RF) instrument collected in 2010, the researchers identified a cave extending over 200 feet from the base of a pit. This pit is located 230 miles northeast of the first human landing site in Mare Tranquillitatis, and the full extent of the cave could potentially stretch for miles beneath the lunar mare.

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)
Image credit: NASA Science 

Decades of scientific speculation suggested the existence of subsurface caves on the Moon, similar to those on Earth. Earlier lunar orbiters provided images hinting at pits that might lead to such caves. The confirmation of a pit came in 2009 through images from JAXA’s (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Kaguya orbiter. Subsequent images and thermal measurements from the LRO have identified many pits across the Moon’s surface.

These lunar caves are believed to have formed like "lava tubes" on Earth, where molten lava once flowed beneath a field of cooled lava, or where a crust formed over a river of lava, creating long, hollow tunnels. When the ceiling of a solidified lava tube collapses, it creates a pit that serves as an entry point to the cave-like tube.

Noah Petro, LRO project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, emphasized the significance of the Mini-RF radar data, which now reveals the potential extent of these caves. Such discoveries not only offer potential shelters for future astronauts but also provide insights into the formation of the lunar surface, including features like the "Man in the Moon."