Lava tubes: Hidden sites for future human habitats on the Moon and Mars

Lava tubes, underground caves created by volcanic activity, could provide protected habitats large enough to house streets on Mars or even towns on the Moon, according to research presented at the European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC) 2017 in Riga. A further study shows how the next generation of lunar orbiters will be able to use radar to locate these structures under the Moon's surface.

Source: Lava tubes: Hidden sites for future human habitats on the Moon and Mars

Italian researchers at both the University of Padova and the University of Bologna, using data from high-resolution Digital Terrain Models (DTM) of the Earth, Moon, and Mars reveals that gravity plays a big role in the size of these caverns when formed.

"The comparison of terrestrial, lunar and martian examples shows that, as you might expect, gravity has a big effect on the size of lava tubes. On Earth, they can be up to thirty metres across. In the lower gravity environment of Mars, we see evidence for lava tubes that are 250 metres in width. On the Moon, these tunnels could be a kilometre or more across and many hundreds of kilometres in length," says Dr Riccardo Pozzobon, of the University of Padova. "These results have important implications for habitability and human exploration of the Moon but also for the search of extraterrestrial life on Mars. Lava tubes are environments shielded from cosmic radiation and protected from micrometeorites flux, potentially providing safe habitats for future human missions. They are also, potentially, large enough for quite significant human settlements -- you could fit most of the historic city centre of Riga into a lunar lava tube."

So, these protected areas under the surface of the planet Mars might be large enough (due to the lower gravity compared to Earth) to construct communities with roads. In addition, they mat also already be a place that indigenous life has survived and perhaps flourished. The key would be to locate these tubes for exploration. Which, is now being discussed.

In a separate talk at EPSC, Leonardo Carrer and colleagues of the University of Trento presented a concept for a radar system specifically designed to detect lava tubes on the Moon from orbit. The radar probes beneath the lunar surface with low frequency electromagnetic waves and measures the reflected signals. This radar instrument could determine accurately the physical composition, size and shape of the caves and obtain a global map of their location.

I sure hope this research gains traction and is proven viable on the moon. If so, then it bodes well for imaging of a similar nature on Mars.

Cool stuff.........

Those aren't lava tubes, they are gopher holes.

a reply to: Krakatoa

The caves!

The comparison of terrestrial, lunar and martian examples shows that, as you might expect, gravity has a big effect on the size of lava tubes. On Earth, they can be up to thirty metres across. In the lower gravity environment of Mars, we see evidence for lava tubes that are 250 metres in width. On the Moon, these tunnels could be a kilometre or more across and many hundreds of kilometres in length,"

Fascinating, hopefully any mineral deposits found along the way made from the activities that caused said lava tubes will not be exploited.

Astral /Rv & looks deeper for bio pools frozen or slurry and heated These planets, moons and even some stars are full of secrets...

Nice share

Ever read The Menace From Earth?

Maybe stars carry natural wormholes inside which connect to other stars.
The issue would be enter and exit plans however.

Makes sense. Volcanic rocks can have great insulation properties, as well. Mix some shotcrete using moondust and get to work spraying your new sublunar home. Probably need an actual plan for ice or helium-3 first.

a reply to: Krakatoa

Once I heard of the Mars One program I knew people would have to live underground for a myriad of reasons.

Giant lava tubes for sustained living? what an amazing world. I bet there will be a lot of work done by AI systems to prep the planet for our arrival.

There could be permanent concentrations of ice in these lava tubes, as there are in some of these caves on Earth. That would be an added bonus. Water for drinking, obviously, but it could also be electrolytically split into oxygen and hydrogen.

This could be used for breathing, and rocket fuel, respectively, and for fuel cells for power during the lunar nights when photovoltaic panels on the surface couldn't send down electrical power to the caves.

The mental picture of a cavernous space, a kilometer wide, and hundreds long, enclosed by rock, is quite striking. I wonder if any visitor/observers of our planet, from far off in space, might have decided to establish themselves in such a setting.

originally posted by: rickymouse
Those aren't lava tubes, they are gopher holes.

Carl Spackler can take care of that gopher problem for you.

And so we go from our ancestors living in caves over 100K years ago to the Moon, Mars and beyond living in caves again. Oh well, we have to live somewhere. My best,

originally posted by: Ross 54
The mental picture of a cavernous space, a kilometer wide, and hundreds long, enclosed by rock, is quite striking. I wonder if any visitor/observers of our planet, from far off in space, might have decided to establish themselves in such a setting.

OK, now you REALLY need to read "The Menace from Earth"! It's a Heinlein short story where lunar residents have developed a great use for such caverns.

a reply to: Krakatoa

That's what they showed in the Mars miniseries from Amazon. I think they even found ice down the tube. Pretty good show.

originally posted by: Ophiuchus 13
Maybe stars carry natural wormholes inside which connect to other stars.
The issue would be enter and exit plans however.

I used to ponder the premise that at the center of Stars are Black Holes.....?

originally posted by: Saint Exupery

originally posted by: Ross 54
The mental picture of a cavernous space, a kilometer wide, and hundreds long, enclosed by rock, is quite striking. I wonder if any visitor/observers of our planet, from far off in space, might have decided to establish themselves in such a setting.

OK, now you REALLY need to read "The Menace from Earth"! It's a Heinlein short story where lunar residents have developed a great use for such caverns.

Thanks, Saint Exupery, I've read "The Menace from Earth" before. Worth reading again. Classic science fiction!

originally posted by: airforce47
And so we go from our ancestors living in caves over 100K years ago to the Moon, Mars and beyond living in caves again. Oh well, we have to live somewhere. My best,

On Mars, it may be the mining companies setting up shop first, as mineral veins in an area known as Garden City on Mars is where high concentrations of zinc and germanium have been discovered. If a lava cave is near to these veins, how convenient that would be.

In Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy, not only are lava tubes used, but there is a group that melts a cavern into the CO2 cap in the southern pole. And that was written 25 years ago.

It's not a new idea in science fiction, we dream it then we do it.