NASA engineers have proposed sending autonomous drones to the Moon to explore the potential of using lava tubes and caves for human habitation. It is theorized that ancient lava flows from volcanoes left miles of lava tubes up to 30 feet across, reports the Daily Mail.
Meanwhile, researchers at the Morgridge Institute for Research in Madison, Wisc., are developing camera technology to explore the tubes from an orbiting satellite.
States project leader Andreas Velten:
Geologists are interested because they would provide access to subsurface geology without actually having to dig, which would be very difficult. What’s interesting for space travel is you can’t have people on the surface for long periods because of the temperature extremes, and because of radiation. But in these caves, people could survive for a long time with consistent temperatures and no radiation. Some of these may actually be quite deep, under 50-60 metres of rock.
Earlier these year, says the Daily Mail, NASA announced its Periscope Project, with the goal of mapping the tubes by peering into the 200 or so “skylights” that have been discovered so far.