Lunar Fountain? Accessible Ice Could Lurk in Moon's Lava Tubes

[Judi Lynn]

By Samantha Mathewson, Space.com Contributor | January 18, 2018 07:15am ET



New images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) suggest there is an underground network of lava tubes beneath the lunar surface that could offer astronauts easy access to water.

The stunning new photos show multiple small pits in a large impact crater known as the Philolaus Crater, which is located near the north pole of the moon. Researchers said these pits are likely lava tube "skylights" — entrances to underground tunnels that were once filled with lava.

The underground tunnels could also provide access to subsurface ice, and in turn, water. Astronauts would therefore be able to use this water resource during future missions to the moon, said a new study from the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute and the Mars Institute. [Photos: The Search for Water on the Moon]

"The highest-resolution images available for Philolaus Crater do not allow the pits to be identified as lava tube skylights with 100 percent certainty, but we are looking at good candidates considering simultaneously their size, shape, lighting conditions and geologic setting," Pascal Lee, planetary scientist at the SETI Institute and the Mars Institute, said in a statement.

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