It is the first cave to be discovered on the Moon and could protect astronauts from radiation.

Scientists have for the first time discovered a cave on the Moon.

At least 100m deep, it could be an ideal place for humans to build a permanent base, they say.

It is just one in probably hundreds of caves hidden in an “underground, undiscovered world”, according to the researchers.

Countries are racing to establish a permanent human presence on the Moon, but they will need to protect astronauts from radiation, extreme temperatures, and space weather.

Helen Sharman, the first British astronaut to travel to space, told BBC News that the newly-discovered cave looked like a good place for a base, and suggested humans could potentially be living in lunar pits in 20-30 years.

  • massive_bereavement@fedia.io
    51·
    5 months ago

    Just wondering what it means for history if the first humans to start living on the Moon do so in a cave.

    Maybe space cavemen?

    • GraniteM@lemmy.worldEnglish
      29·
      5 months ago

      We’re cavemen on the Moon, we carry bone harpoons! But there ain’t no whales so we tell caveman tales and sing a whaling tune!

    • ZoopZeZoop@lemmy.worldEnglish
      24·
      5 months ago

      Because it’s costly to bring materials and to set up mining operations, a lot of tools will be made of readily available moon rock. So, maybe we’ll have a moon stone age, too.

      • SolidGrue@lemmy.worldEnglish
        17·
        5 months ago

        More, shelter.

        There’s no atmosphere to attenuate hard radiation, so rock overhead is the next best thing.

        There’s no gravity to contain an atmosphere, and domes are expensive and time consuming to build. Meanwhile the crews are exposed to radiation.

        There’s nothing but regolith on the surface of the moon-- finely powdered rock of unknown (and likely poor) assay for vital ores and minerals useful to bootstrap a colony.

        A cave provides shelter, more assay-ably dense ore resources, potentially water in the form of subsurface ice, and potentially a vitrable (melted, glassified rock) cavity to contain a viable, pressurized atmosphere on the quick.

        A cave on the moon is a find. Given the potential for neocolonialism in the next decade or three, it’s a boon for whatever program discovers one.

        edit: typos

        • massive_bereavement@fedia.io
          6·
          5 months ago

          The space is a harsh mistress, but also I’m pretty sure all the brochures will have at least one window from where earth is visible.

        • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
          2·
          5 months ago

          and domes are expensive and time consuming to build

          Also architecturally impossible, since there’s nothing to stop them from flying upwards. Pressure vessels work best when rounded on every side.

          Edit: Unless you count a half-buried sphere as a dome.

          A cave on the moon is a find. Given the potential for neocolonialism in the next decade or three, it’s a boon for whatever program discovers one.

          There’s more of these known BTW. The new thing is just proof that the hole continues underneath like expected.

          There’s nothing but regolith on the surface of the moon-- finely powdered rock of unknown (and likely poor) assay for vital ores and minerals useful to bootstrap a colony.

          That’s just not true, there’s exposed rocky outcrops as well.

          You can get a long way with just the rock-building elements of silicon, iron, aluminum and magnesium, metals-wise (and maybe calcium with no air to bother you). Volatiles are the real prize everyone is after.

      • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
        1·
        5 months ago

        Eh. How hard is it to bring a little arc furnace and start making aluminum? Hell, magnesium would be even easier, since hard vacuum is cheap up there.

    • Q The Misanthrope @startrek.websiteEnglish
      6·
      5 months ago

      Mildly related by the topic. I’m playing ghost recon breakpoint and a bunch of the main characters are hiding in a huge cave. My character said something like “do you have a computer?” And the NPC replied, “I live in a cave, I’m not a cave man” .