On the moon is the first time A cave has been discovered. That’s what Italian and American scientists say after analyzing old radar images of the moon.

The cave entrance is more than a hundred metres deep, at the bottom of a deep pit. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter satellite spotted the cave opening as early as 2010, as it appears now, by looking diagonally into the pit with radar.

According to the team of scientists led by Leonardo Carrer and Lorenzo Bruzzoni of the University of Trento, the cave could serve as a base for astronauts on future lunar missions. They suspect that the moon still has hundreds of such caves.

In the scientific journal Astronomy Nature The discoverers write that the cave, which is estimated to be about forty meters wide and tens of meters long, may have been formed as a result of the collapse of a lava tunnel.

“Lunar caves have been a mystery for more than 50 years, so it was exciting to finally be able to prove their existence,” the researchers wrote in an email to the news agency. AFP.

The cave is not far from the place where American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first to set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969.

Astronauts could use the cave on future lunar missions to enable long-term stays on the moon. For example, the lunar cave would protect people from harmful radiation, extreme temperature differences, and small meteorite impacts, the scientists write.

The first British astronaut to go into space, Helen Sharman, tells the BBC BBC Astronauts will be able to take shelter in lunar craters in about twenty to thirty years, but given the depth of the cave, they may be able to do so jetpacks Or you need an elevator to get out.