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Scientists Think They've Discovered Lava Tubes Leading To the Moon's Polar Ice (sciencealert.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the on-the-rocks dept.

schwit1 quotes ScienceAlert: Small pits in a large crater on the Moon's North Pole could be "skylights" leading down to an underground network of lava tubes -- tubes holding hidden water on Earth's nearest neighbour, according to new research. There's no lava in them now of course, though that's originally how the tubes formed in the Moon's fiery past. But they could indicate easy access to a water source if we ever decide to develop a Moon base sometime in the future.

Despite the Moon's dry and dusty appearance, scientists think it contains a lot of water trapped as frozen ice. What these new observations carried out by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) show is that it might be much more accessible than we thought... Scientists have long been thinking about how to extract the ice reserves we think are up there -- solar power was originally out of the question, as it's the freezing shadowed areas of the Moon that have preserved the ice in the first place. Not only would natural skylights like these provide easier access to the underground ice, it would also mean solar power would be back on the table as an idea.

21 of 59 comments (clear)

  1. Jules Vernes next blockbuster by maroberts · · Score: 2

    Journey to the Centre of the Moon

    --

    Donte Alistair Anderson Roberts - hi son!
    Karma: Chameleon

    1. Re:Jules Vernes next blockbuster by nospam007 · · Score: 2

      "Journey to the Centre of the Moon" ...through a series of tubes.

    2. Re:Jules Vernes next blockbuster by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 1

      I saw the other movie, and know what is really at the other end of this "series of tube": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      Of course, I could be wrong, and the skylights could lead to these lovely critters: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      So . . . future wannabe Moon astronauts will hope for the first, but might get stuck with the second.

      Elon Musk seems to have good luck with everything, so maybe he'll have the courage to go first.

      --
      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    3. Re:Jules Vernes next blockbuster by Picodon · · Score: 1

      "Journey to the Centre of the Moon" ...through a series of tubes.

      Does this mean that the Moon already has Internet, then?

    4. Re:Jules Vernes next blockbuster by kelemvor4 · · Score: 1

      "Journey to the Centre of the Moon" ...through a series of tubes.

      There have been tubes through the center of alien worlds since the NYC subway opened years ago.

    5. Re:Jules Vernes next blockbuster by megalomaniacs4u · · Score: 2

      Actually HG Wells' First Men In the Moon got there already. Also see the 60s film adaptation which tied in the Apollo and the recent BBC remake.

  2. Re: Simple question by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 2

    Because in a few years, that senile joke will be dead, but the lava tubes will be there for eons to come?

    --
    Ezekiel 23:20
  3. Re: Probes by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 3, Insightful

    With no atmosphere, obviously they would have to be propelled by thrusters

    Well, there's also this ancient thing called "a rope"...

    --
    Ezekiel 23:20
  4. Re:Simple question by hey! · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Well, it makes lunar habitation feasible in the relatively nearer future.

    Consider this analogous question: did the discovery of the cancer gene BRCA1 affect anyone at all? To your way of thinking, no, because it didn't immediately cure anyone's cancer. It only affected the lives of a very small number of cancer scientists by pointing them down promising avenues of research.

    --
    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  5. There's *Ice* In Them Thar.. by BlueStrat · · Score: 3, Informative

    Lunar ice-miner twenty-forty-niner!

    In space and/or on an airless rock, water is far more valuable than gold.

    This lunar ice deep in lava tubes on the moon was predicted back in 1966 in the science fiction novel "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress" by Robert A. Heinlein.

    Of course in Heinlein's story, the Moon was a penal colony. Considering the authoritarian direction most nations seem to be drifting towards, maybe this is another Heinlein "prediction" that will come to pass.

    "This Court sentences you to life in the Alcatraz-II lunar penal colony."

    Strat

    --
    Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
    1. Re:There's *Ice* In Them Thar.. by KeensMustard · · Score: 1

      In space and/or on an airless rock, water is far more valuable than gold.

      But to be fair, neither substance is valuable in space, unless you are engaged in some sort of automated manufacturing which requires gold or water (the latter being perhaps more commonly required in significant quantities for manufacturing).

      This lunar ice deep in lava tubes on the moon was predicted back in 1966 in the science fiction novel "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress" by Robert A. Heinlein.

      What Heinlein didn't predict (and perhaps could not have done so) was the advancement in robotics that ruled the presence of humans on the moon already obsolete.

      Of course in Heinlein's story, the Moon was a penal colony. Considering the authoritarian direction most nations seem to be drifting towards, maybe this is another Heinlein "prediction" that will come to pass.

      Authoritarian nations generally seem to exploit those prisoners for their labour, rather than stick them somewhere where their labour would have not value.

    2. Re:There's *Ice* In Them Thar.. by BlueStrat · · Score: 1

      But to be fair, neither substance is valuable in space, unless you are engaged in some sort of automated manufacturing which requires gold or water

      Wrong, as water == fuel for rockets/thrusters, shielding against radiation & micrometeorites and more. That's not even considering providing oxygen and drinking water to any humans.

      What Heinlein didn't predict (and perhaps could not have done so) was the advancement in robotics that ruled the presence of humans on the moon already obsolete.

      Robots can "do things" usually much better than humans. What they cannot do is *experience* things for humans.

      Besides, at some point in the future humans will have to colonize places off of the Earth. Robots will be helpful in preparing such places.

      Authoritarian nations generally seem to exploit those prisoners for their labour, rather than stick them somewhere where their labour would have not value.

      Apparently you have not read the story. The entire point of the penal colony was to grow rice and ship it to a starving, overpopulated Earth using a system of giant electromagnetic rail guns to shoot containers into the ocean. (which later in the story they turn into a strategic weapon)

      Strat

      --
      Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
  6. If they do discover 'frozen ice' on the Moon, by ThaumaTechnician · · Score: 1

    we can call it a 'free gift'.

  7. Re: Simple question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I don't like Trump either, but I've chosen to go on living my life. I feel sorry for the people with so much wrong in their life they've latched on to Trump as their ultimate scapegoat. "If only Trump is out of office, then my life will turn around!" To paraphrase Trump...how very sad.

  8. Tintin was right! by AJWM · · Score: 4, Interesting
    So Tintin (or rather Hergé) got it right in Explorers on the Moon when Tintin discovers ice in a lunar cave. ;)

    http://en.tintin.com/images/ti...

    --
    -- Alastair
  9. Re: Simple question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    You know what friend, I can tie it all together. In order to fix politics we need healthier ways for us all to communicate. That means replacing Facebook with a more nuanced variety of platforms to have discussions. All the tech in the next 20 years, Facebook or none, will require exponentially more satellites to circle the planet and move our data. The one thing that you cannot affordable carry to space to keep sattelites going but we do it anyway, is hydrogen and oxygen as propellant. The prospect of mining water ice to electrolyze into hydrogen and oxygen propellant, all outside the costly gravity well of earths surface, is a serious and not theoretical next step in industrial development.

  10. Re: Simple question by mnemotronic · · Score: 1

    It's kinda sad. OW is (I hope) smart enough to know to not run. The DNC is so discombobulated after their shoe-in lost, and so desperate for anyone with a pulse that they'll float a 2020 rumor for a rich TV star with no military or political experience. Maybe the pulse will become optional and they'll nominate Barbara Jordan. Or go full-throttle down the rich entertainer track and try Barbara Streisand, with Wayne Newton as VP.

    --
    The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
  11. Re: I can just see the Chelsey Bonestell... by mnemotronic · · Score: 1

    Chesley Bonestell

    Other links:
    Bonestell.org
    Google Image search
    The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal (IMDB)
    Some books on EBay

    --
    The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
  12. And now for something completely different by mnemotronic · · Score: 1


    And now for something completely different .... Working in a Lava Tube, sung to the melody of Devo - Working In a Coal Mine

    Workin' in a lava tube
    Goin' down, down, down
    Lookin' for the water fall
    Oops, about to slip down
    Workin' lunar lava tubes
    Goin' down down, down
    Look out for the icy stuff
    Oops, about to slip down

    Five o'clock in the morning
    That last tube sure was a dud
    This one lookin' no better
    How long before I get some bud?

    Daddies workin' in a lava tube
    Goin' down, down, down
    Lookin' for the water fall
    Oops, about to slip down
    Workin' lunar lava tubes
    Goin' down down, down
    Look out for the icy stuff
    Oops, about to slip down

    'Course I paid in Bitcoin
    Haulin' ice ain't no fun
    But when Saturday come round
    No beer, no xbox, no fun

    I'm just workin' in a lava tube
    Goin' down, down, down
    Lookin' for the water fall
    Oops, about to slip down
    Workin' ....



    thank you.

    --
    The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
  13. Re: Simple question by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

    I cant find any specific Constitutional reason why Jordan couldn’t get the nomination, so long as the VP could handle the State of the union address. It’s probable that even if elected people wouldn’t notice for at least a while because lobbyists do all the talking for today’s pols anyway.

  14. Caves also block radiation... by Ranbot · · Score: 1

    A prime location for a lunar [or martian] base would be inside a cave thick enough overhead to block dangerous radiation and recoverable ice/water inside.

    Discovering lunar caves/lava tubes is not really news though... From 2016: https://www.space.com/32795-mo...
    These are just more caves found closer to the lunar pole and hypothesizes there MIGHT be water/ice inside.