Recent data presented by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has led scientists to conclusions that the moon hosts around 200 pits that offers stable, human-friendly temperatures.
NASA stated on Wednesday that these pits always hover around a comfortable 63F/17 degree Celsius.
A steady 17 degree Celsius contrast is clearly noticeable with the rest of the Moon’s service. This fluctuates between 127C/260F to -173C/-280F across a full Lunar day. Shaded bits of lava tubes stay at 17 degree Celsius on all lunar day and all lunar night.
These temperatures creates environment that complicates lunar exploration for machines and for humans. This is the reason why warm spots on the Moon are hot property.
Pits on the moon was discovered back in the year 2009 by JAXA’s SELENE spacecraft. Since then there has been curious interests in whether they would provide access to caves that could be explored by rovers and astronauts.
NASA is going back to the Moon with commercial and international partners. This would help them stretch scientific knowledge and expand human presence in the space.
Artemis, a program of the space organization, aims on taking human to the lunar South Pole by 2025. This would be the first crewed lunar landing since 1972’s APOLLO 17.
