Where do you live after landing on the moon? The scientist set his sights on the underground lava tube
Tianwen Channel
The progress and development of science and technology have turned people's illusions about the future into reality. Space walks, landing on the moon, exploring Mars... Scientists have been exploring the unknown deep space of the universe. In recent years, finding the second "home of mankind" in the universe has become one of the directions of scientists' efforts. The latest research shows that this dream is very likely to become a reality.
Recently, according to foreign media reports, planetary scientists pointed out that the lava tubes below the surface of the moon and Mars are huge enough to accommodate planetary bases for future space exploration. In fact, as early as the 1970s, planetary geologists discovered some peculiar crater-like structures in several volcanic regions of Mars and the lunar region of the moon. These crater-like structures are very inconsistent with the morphology of impact craters. They are more similar. It is formed by the collapse of underground caves. Because these collapse pits mostly appear in lava flow areas or the sides of volcanic mountains, scientists suspect that they may be "skylights" formed by the collapse of lava tubes.
Gravity environment affects lava tube size
Lava tubes are lava caves formed during volcanic eruption and karst flow. When low-viscosity, high-temperature lava flows across the surface, due to the large temperature difference with the outside, the outer surface of the magma will quickly cool and solidify to form a hard shell. Under the heat insulation of the outer hard shell, the inside can still maintain high temperature The state continues to flow until the source of magma stops supplying, and the pipe is emptied to form a hollow structure, the lava tube.
The formation mechanism of lava tubes on the Moon and Mars is roughly the same as that on Earth, but due to factors such as the low gravity environment on the Moon and Mars, the volume of the lava tubes is different. On the earth, its diameter usually ranges from several meters to tens of meters, while on Mars its diameter can be as long as tens of meters or even hundreds of meters, and the diameter of the lava tube on the moon is longer, up to thousands of meters. From the overall scale, the scale of the lava tube on Mars is about 10 times that on the earth, and the scale on the moon is larger, thousands of times that on the earth.
"The scale of the lava tube on the planet is greatly affected by the planet's surface gravity environment." Dr. Gong Shengxia from the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences said in an interview with a reporter from the Science and Technology Daily: Smaller, about one-sixth of the Earth. Compared to the Earth, large-scale lava tubes are more likely to form on Mars and the Moon."
Such a huge lava tube is not so easy to find.
Generally, some linear and winding collapsed chain structures on the planet's surface are considered to be lava tubes. Gong Shengxia said that these lava tubes close to the surface can be located based on satellite image data and digital terrain models. As for the lava tube buried underground, it can be detected by radar, and the size and shape of the cave can be determined based on the radar echo. In addition, the lack of mass in the hollow position of the lava tube will also cause a certain gravity anomaly. The planetary gravity field data obtained by the probe can also be used for the detection of the lava tube.
The huge lava tube brings unlimited imagination to mankind
Because caves have natural shelter conditions, caves on the earth have naturally become habitats and shelters for ancients, and the lava tubes on the moon and Mars have allowed scientists to propose bold ideas: whether this can be a base for humans to survive in space ?
Relative to the surface of the planet, the lava tube located underground can provide a relatively safe space environment. The weathered layer and rock covered on the surface of the lava tube can shield the influence of cosmic rays to a certain extent, and can also protect the inner space of the lava tube from impact and damage by micrometeorites. At the same time, the inside of the lava tube can also provide a relatively stable temperature environment. The temperature difference between day and night on the surface of the planet is great. However, because there is no direct sunlight inside the lava tube, and the weathered layer and rocks covered on the surface have good heat insulation, the internal temperature of the lava tube Relatively stable. In addition, the lava tube itself can also provide various potential resources, such as water ice and microorganisms in the sediments in the lava tube.
In addition to the above natural advantages, in order to establish an outer space base in a lava tube, it is necessary to consider whether the lava tube itself is structurally stable and whether it can provide enough space to accommodate the base building. Existing observation data show that the thickness of the top of the lunar lava tube can be up to tens of meters, and some lava tubes can be up to several thousand meters in width, carry a larger load, and have more underground space.
The lava tube seems to make living on the moon or Mars no longer unreachable. With the improvement of the level of science and technology and the increasing demand for the utilization of lunar resources, it is important and urgent to carry out the exploration of lava caves.
Since 2012, the European Space Agency has cooperated with some European universities to carry out astronaut training projects, mainly training students to explore the ability of underground systems and planetary geology. A total of 36 astronauts have been trained to walk in caves. The researchers pointed out that this study opened up a new perspective for planetary exploration, focusing on the subsurface of Mars and the moon as the focus of future exploration.
Nowadays, all countries have a keen interest in the caves and lava tubes on the planet. "At present, more than 300 potential lava cave openings have been discovered on the moon, and more than 1,000 on Mars," said Gong Shengxia.
In the future, there may be people living under the surface of the moon and Mars.
Wang Xiaojiao, reporter Wang Chun