Huge Luna Cave Discovered

In a recent Gizmodo article there is a report that the Indian Space Research Organization has discovered a "giant underground chamber" near the Moon's equator, in the Oceanus Procellarum area.

Discovered by the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft the structure is more than one mile long and 393 feet wide.

The ISRO is speculating on good uses for the huge cave. It is sufficiently well protected to block harmful radiation from damaging long term occupants as well as constant temperatures of around -4 Fahrenheit where the surface experiences huge variations in temperature.

Could Huge Caves be our First Home on Mars?

Remember those mysterious dark spots that were photographed on the surface of Mars? Well from a recent article in Dvice - Photographs taken by the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows what these dark areas really are, or more specifically what is IN them. Some high resolution images were taken of the dark areas and allowed to over-expose to bring out detail in the dark areas. What showed up were huge pits (in this case a football field span.) were the remains of an empty lava chamber with a collapsed ceiling. These pits might turn out to be the perfect thing for living accommodations once explorers/colonists arrive on Mars.

From the Dvice article:

• One possible way to turn a pit crater into an insta-base might be to stretch a big sheet of plastic wrap over the top at ground level to seal it off, and then fill the inside with air. The air pressure inside would help hold the plastic roof up, and you'd end up with a big sunny open area, which could be good for growing food. Individual rooms could be dug out of the walls of the pit to provide more space and better radiation protection...

Strange Martian feature not a 'bottomless' cave after all

Enlarge image

From Newscienctist.com

An extremely dark feature on Mars is probably just a pit – not the entrance to a deep cavern that future astronauts could call home, a new image reveals.

The 150- by 157-metre feature was first noticed in an image taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on 5 May 2007 using a camera called the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE).

Viewed from directly overhead, the dark spot showed no evidence of walls or a floor, leading some HiRISE scientists to suspect it was the opening to a cavern. The new image, however, suggests the feature is just a vertical shaft cutting into the surface. Taken on 8 August from a different angle, the image reveals a wall on the feature's eastern side.

thanks to Shaun Saunders for the post

Possible New Mars Caves Targets in Search for Life

Mars Odyssey's Thermal Emission Imaging System recently spotted seven dark spots near the planet's equator that scientists think could be entrances to underground caves. The football-field sized holes, potential caves, were spotted near a massive Martian volcano, Arisa Mons. Their openings range from about 330 to 820 feet (100 to 250 meters) wide, and one of them, Dena, is thought to extend nearly 430 feet (130 meters) beneath the planet's surface. Caves on Mars could become habitats for future explorers or could be the only structures that preserve evidence of past or present microbial life.

Submitted by Shaun Saunders