[HN Gopher] Radar evidence of accessible Moon cave conduit below...
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Radar evidence of accessible Moon cave conduit below Mare
Tranquillitatis pit
Author : rntn
Score : 89 points
Date : 2024-07-15 16:09 UTC (6 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.nature.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.nature.com)
| netcraft wrote:
| I always love it when new science is done with old observations
| krunck wrote:
| I hate it when scientific results are behind a paywall.
| CamperBob2 wrote:
| Results that we, the taxpayers, already paid for.
| bryant wrote:
| Email the authors. They tend to be happy to share copies.
| dorkwood wrote:
| Have you done this yourself?
|
| I've tried it in the past after reading a blog post about its
| effectiveness. I am yet to receive a response.
| TaylorAlexander wrote:
| Would be cool if there were some sort of world wide...
| connection system of some sort so the authors could share
| their data without needing to respond to individual emails.
| teepo wrote:
| Found this at least [1]: "In 2010, as part of the ongoing Luna
| Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) NASA mission, the Miniature Radio-
| Frequency (Mini-RF) instrument acquired data that included a pit
| in Mare Tranquilitatis," said Professor Lorenzo Bruzzone in a
| statement. "Years later we have reanalysed these data with
| complex signal processing techniques we have recently developed,
| and have discovered radar reflections from the area of the pit
| that are best explained by an underground cave conduit. This
| discovery provides the first direct evidence of an accessible
| lava tube under the surface of the Moon."
|
| [1] https://www.iflscience.com/the-first-cave-has-been-found-
| on-...
| jvanderbot wrote:
| I can't help but think of the Moon is a Harsh Mistress every
| time I hear this news.
| kibwen wrote:
| I think it sounds more like _The Lotus Caves_ :
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lotus_Caves
| dylan604 wrote:
| So we're now saying the specific type of cheese that the moon
| is made from is Swiss?
| klyrs wrote:
| This has long been suspected due to the spheroidal
| indentations in the lunar surface.
| madaxe_again wrote:
| This is a remnant of the Great Fondue period shortly after
| the moon's creation.
| dunham wrote:
| It's Wensleydale, as documented in "A Grand Day Out".
| tailspin2019 wrote:
| That documentary was full of holes.
| mcswell wrote:
| Yes, but who cut the cheese?
| CapeTheory wrote:
| That would be the vending machine on the skis.
| rbanffy wrote:
| There is a little bit more info at
| https://www.media.inaf.it/2024/07/15/tubi-lavici-lunari/ (in
| Italian)
| floxy wrote:
| I suppose the Artemis III landing location is probably set in
| stone at the south pole, and even if it weren't, there probably
| wouldn't be enough time to explore a cave. Maybe we can get some
| hopping pit-bots there sooner rather than later:
|
| https://arxiv.org/abs/1701.07799
| UberFly wrote:
| Totally. I can't wait for the photos at some point. The caves
| must have just moved to somebodies shortlist.
| imglorp wrote:
| This would also change the mars vs moon colony equation. A
| ready made radiation shelter of substantial volume means none
| of that shielding or digging equipment would need to be
| brought from Earth. Move-in ready.
| evaneykelen wrote:
| There likely are lava tubes on Mars too:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martian_lava_tube
| wongarsu wrote:
| Similarly the Chinese program is so far only planning for
| landings and a moon base at the south pole. But I wouldn't be
| surprised if China squeezes in an extra manned or rover mission
| to investigate this. It'd be a pretty cheap win for their Moon
| program over Artemis.
| kjkjadksj wrote:
| I imagine there is a massive benefit to trying to secure and
| claim this cave before others have a chance to. Turn key
| Cheyenne mountain complex on the moon with little complex
| lunar excavation required? Yes please, says every nations
| strategic space command at once. I wouldn't be surprised if
| there were more such sites, undisclosed for fear of
| competition settling on the site, but already identified for
| future basebuilding purposes.
| rbanffy wrote:
| I guess we'll need to develop climbing equipment for astronauts.
| It's a 120m wall with a 25m cave under it.
|
| I'm also betting the cave has a sizeable ice trap in it.
| IIAOPSW wrote:
| lunar gravity
| rbanffy wrote:
| and a jetpack
| wizardforhire wrote:
| Maybe something like this?
|
| https://youtube.com/watch?v=qL1WqN1XKK0&pp=ygUdU3RhcnRyZWsgN...
| wongarsu wrote:
| We could also go retro:
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYsSsdplqLg
|
| NASAs space-grade version was a bit bulkier, but same idea
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvnC--JjDBw
|
| Sadly the modern space version is far less useful because of
| safety concerns.
| 1970-01-01 wrote:
| Get on your NASA minibike [0] and gain enough momentum to ride
| up the cave wall and out of the hole.
|
| [0] https://pulispace-blog-
| hu.translate.goog/2012/03/31/a_holdmo...
| rbanffy wrote:
| The wall is quite vertical. You can drive a screw-like
| trajectory on the walls if you are fast enough.
| bloopernova wrote:
| Could you imagine being the first person to ever explore an
| underground cave system on another planet?
|
| On Mars, maybe stromatolites or other bacteria live in these
| caves!
| stragies wrote:
| Hollywood has made lots of movies where this person then goes
| on to inadvertently kill us all when they get home to earth. Or
| crash-land, or ..
| lelanthran wrote:
| > Could you imagine being the first person to ever explore an
| underground cave system on another planet?
|
| I think there's a documentary on that:
| https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078748/
| bazzargh wrote:
| more appositely https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Men_in_th
| e_Moon_(1964_fi...
|
| if we do find a note in the cave saying claimed on behalf of
| Queen Victoria...probably best to leave.
| irrational wrote:
| > they discover a battered Union Jack flag on the surface
| and a handwritten note, dated some 65 years earlier,
| claiming the moon on behalf of Queen Victoria. Stranger
| still, the note is written on the back of a court summons
| for one Katherine Callender from the village of Dymchurch
| in England.
|
| This reads like the beginning of a Doctor Who episode.
| bazzargh wrote:
| Nigel Kneale, who wrote the screenplay, famously wrote
| Quatermass, so you're in the right area - that was a big
| influence on early Who. Kneale hated the idea of Doctor
| Who though, and refused to write for it - he said "It
| sounded a terrible idea and I still think it was."
| (specifically, he hated that it was designed to frighten
| small children)
| brcmthrowaway wrote:
| It was probably visited by the Annunaki living on planet X
| ancientworldnow wrote:
| The best part of caving as a sport and science is that you can
| find and explore virgin systems here on Earth still.
| malaretv wrote:
| NAC Imagery of one such pit in Mare Tranquillitatis
|
| https://quickmap.lroc.asu.edu/layers?prjExtent=941477.606759...
| system2 wrote:
| Why aren't these findings or studies published as blog format?
| You'd think these would be available to humanity in 2024.
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