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The Mare Tranquillitatis pit has been associated with a lava tube. Lunar lava tubes are lava tubes on the Moon formed during the eruption of basaltic lava flows. When the surface of a lava flow cools, it hardens and the lava can channel beneath the surface in a tube-shaped passage. Once the flow of lava diminishes, the tube may drain, forming a ...
Lunar lava tubes form a potentially important location for constructing a future lunar base, which may be used for local exploration and development, or as a human outpost to serve exploration beyond the Moon. A lunar lava cave potential has long been suggested and discussed in literature and thesis. [27] Any intact lava tube on the Moon could ...
The pit was created by a lunar lava tube, and is currently the deepest known lunar pit with a radius of at least 100 meters (328 feet). The lunar feature is notable for being the first lunar cave proven to exist beyond theoretical frameworks, [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] and of being direct evidence of the existence of natural lunar shelter that could ...
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Common features shared by lunar rilles and similar structures on other bodies suggest that common causative mechanisms operate widely in the solar system. Leading theories include lava channels , collapsed lava tubes, near-surface dike intrusion, nuée ardente (pyroclastic cloud), subsidence of lava-covered basin and crater floors, and tectonic ...
[43] [44] An area displaying a lava tube is the Marius Hills region. [45] In 2008, an opening to a lava tube in this area may have been discovered by the Japanese Kaguya spacecraft. [46] The skylight was photographed in more detail in 2011 by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, showing both the 65-meter-wide pit and the floor of the pit about ...
The new study, published recently in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, revealed lunar lava likely flowed across the landscape in this part of the moon billions of years ago.
However, it is unclear whether the tube is open or accessible. Two other lunar sites have been found by remote sensing, including on the far side's Mare Ingenii. [14] An even larger, intact but buried lava tube estimated to be 1.7 km in length and 120m wide was detected by the Chandrayaan-1 orbiter. [15]