Scientists discover shaded locations within pits on the Moon; Could they become astronaut habitats?

Scientists, using data from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft and computer modelling, have discovered shaded locations within pits on the Moon.

Parts of these pits are always about 63°F (17°C), differing from extreme temperatures at the Moon's surface which heat up to 260 F (about 127 C) during the day and cool to minus 280 F (about minus 173 C) at night, according to the NASA-funded scientists.

"Lunar pits are a fascinating feature on the lunar surface. Knowing that they create a stable thermal environment helps us paint a picture of these unique lunar features and the prospect of one day exploring them," said LRO Project Scientist Noah Petro of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

According to the researchers, two of the most prominent lunar pits have visible overhangs that clearly lead to caves or voids, and there is strong evidence that another's overhang may also lead to a large cave.

Tyler Horvath, a doctoral student in planetary science at the University of California, Los Angeles, who led the new research, processed data from Diviner - a thermal camera - to find out if the temperature within the pits diverged from those on the lunar surface.

Horvath and his colleagues focused on a roughly cylindrical 328-foot (100-meter), football field-sized deep depression in Moon's Mare Tranquillitatis area. They used computer modelling to analyze the thermal properties of the rock and lunar dust and to chart the pit's temperatures over time and found that temperatures within the permanently shadowed reaches of the pit fluctuate only slightly throughout the lunar day, remaining at around 63 F or 17 C.

The team believes that the shadowing overhang is responsible for the steady temperature, limiting how hot things gets during the day and preventing heat from radiating away at night.

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter images of pits indicate that the Moon has caves. Could they become astronaut habitats? Scientists have discovered that parts of the pits are always about 63°F (17°C), differing from extreme temperatures at the Moon's surfacehttps://t.co/K0sm1CLqal

— NASA Moon (@NASAMoon) July 26, 2022