NASA's LRO Spacecraft Detects Promising Room Temperature Moon Lava Holes
The near side of Earth’s Moon, as seen using data from the camera aboard the Lunar robot. owned by NASA … [+] Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft. Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Arizona State University NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance orbiter (LRO) has discovered a crater hole near the Moon’s Sea of Tranquility at room temperature. An LRO onboard thermal imager found that a 328-foot depression about the length and width of a football field had overshadowed an area that maintained a constant, cool temperature of around 63 degrees Fahrenheit. The hope is that future astronauts will be able to use such a hole as a shelter from the extreme temperatures of the lunar surface that can fluctuate between 260 degrees Fahrenheit on lunar days and cold to minus 280 degrees Fahrenheit on lunar nights. First discovered on the Moon in 2009, such holes, subsurface lava tunnels, and caves can also offer protection from cosmic rays, solar radiation, and micrometeorites, NASA said. “Abou