Image by NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University

Radar data confirmed a previously theorized enormous cavern called a lava tube in the Marius Hills region of the moon. Space suits alone can’t shield astronauts from its elements: extreme temperature variation, radiation, and meteorite impacts; unlike Earth, the moon has no atmosphere or magnetic field to protects its inhabitants. This finding could enable astronauts to make longer expeditions to the moon or even provide shelter for a moon colony. According to Jay Melosh, Distinguished Professor of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at Purdue, the lava tube near the Marius Hills is spacious enough to house one of the United States’ largest cities.

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