Moon caves could provide shelter for astronautsBy Emilee Speck, FOX Weather
July 30, 2022
A typical forecast on the moon is nowhere near cozy, temperatures range from boiling during the day to 280 below zero at night. However, according to a new study, unique features known as moon pits could offer an oasis from the rollercoaster temperatures.
To learn what it might be like inside these lunar pits, a team of planetary scientists at UCLA used thermal imaging from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and determined the temperature, at least in one of these pits, is always a consistent 63 degrees. The findings were recently published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, and UCLA’s newsroom is calling it the discovery of year-round “sweater weather.”
One of the study authors, Tyler Horvath, a planetary science Ph.D. student at UCLA, said the pit could be the opening of a lava tube or cave and would be an ideal place to live for astronauts, offering perfect temperatures as well as protection from meteorites and radiation.
“Imagine a full day on the moon … you have 15 days of extreme hot that get up to well past the boiling point of water. And then you have 15 days of extreme cold, which is some of the coldest temperatures in the entire solar system,” Horvath said. “So being able to be in a place where you don’t have to spend energy to keep yourself warm throughout those 15 days of night is almost invaluable because during the night, if you’re trying to use solar power as your main form of getting energy, you can’t do that for 15 days.”
The UCLA research team focused on the chasm in the Sea of Tranquility or the Mare Trenquillitatis region, which is about 220 miles from where Apollo 11 landed and also an equal distance to the Apollo 17 landing site.
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Source:
https://nypost.com/2022/07/30/moon-caves-could-provide-shelter-for-astronauts/
