Chinese researchers are investigating the feasibility of having astronauts shelter in space inside lava tubes on the lunar surface.
It's likely an excellent place to set up shop.Chinese researchers are investigating the feasibility of having astronauts construct a base inside lava tubes under the lunar surface, an exciting prospect that could one day allow astronauts to establish a more permanent presence on the Moon.
Scientists have long suspected that our natural satellite is riddled with intricate systems of hollow, tube-like tunnels, left behind by ancient lava currents. Our evidence so far is still relatively limited, with NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter picturing hundreds of "skylights,", which scientists suspect were left behind after tunnel ceilings collapsed. But we have yet to get a first-hand look at these structures — if they exist as we've been picturing them at all, that is.
But if they are there, international space agencies are intrigued. Once inside a lava tube, astronauts could be sheltered not only from showers of micrometeorites but also from the dangerous levels of radiation the atmosphere-less space rock is blasted with.
China isn't alone in investigating the idea. NASA scientists have also been exploring ways to do just that for well
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