NASA Discovers Warm Pits on the Moon

pcmag.com:

Scientists are keen to explore shaded locations within pits on the Moon, which according to computer modeling, hover around a comfortable 63℉.

Unlike most of the Moon's surface, which can heat up to 260℉ during the day and cool to -280℉ at night, the shaded pits could serve as human homesteads in the future.

For more than a decade, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has measured the temperature of these topographical features, likely created by collapsed lava tubes. Now, new research suggests(Opens in a new window) the pits' thermal environment is more hospitable than anywhere else on the Moon, with temps hovering around 63℉ (17℃).

"Lunar pits are a fascinating feature on the lunar surface," LRO Project Scientist Noah Petro of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, said in a statement. "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."

Lava tubes, also found on Earth, form when molten lava flows beneath a field of cooled lava or a crust forms over a river of lava, leaving a long, hollow tunnel, according to NASA. If the ceiling of a solidified lava tube collapses, it opens a pit that may lead to a hollow cave.

Two of the most prominent pits have visible overhangs that clearly lead to caves or voids, NASA revealed, highlighting "strong evidence" that a third pit also leads to a large cave. "Humans evolved living in caves, and to caves we might return when we live on the Moon," David Paige, leader of the Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment aboard LRO, said.

The team—including Paige, Paul Hayne of the University of Colorado Boulder, and UCLA doctoral student Tyler Horvath—focused on a 328-foot-deep depression about