Welcome to Brainstuff production of I Heart Radio, Hey brain Stuff Lauren vocal bamb here. Ever, since Neil Armstrong first set foot on the Moon, scientists have been toyed with the idea of forming potential colonies there and more recently on Mars too. But extreme fluctuating temperatures, cosmic radiation and micro meteorite showers colloquially known as space dust pose challenges
to human excavation of both the Moon and Mars. However, astrobiologists are in the process of exploring nifty geological structures that could serve as natural shelter from these harsh elements. Lava tubes. So what are lava tubes? We spoke via email with Dr Ricardo Pozibon of the Department of Geosciences at the University of Padova. He's been at the forefront of European research on lava tubes. He explained. Lava tubes are caves that are carved by flowing lava that's eventually
drained out, leaving a subsurface void. Although there are different types of lava tube formations, these caves often form out of a type of fluid basaltic lava that flows down a slope like the side of a volcano. As the outermost portion of the hot lava flow comes in contact with the cold air, it cools rapidly, forming a hardened crust, but liquid lava continues to flow like water in a
channel underneath this newly hardened surface. At some point that liquid lava runs out and cools underneath the surface, forming a curvy tube shaped structure, and thus a lava tube is born. Geologists no lava tubes from volcanic areas in Hawaii or Iceland, but they've also become a hot commodity within the astrobiology community due to high resolution images indicating that lava tubes may exist on the Moon and Mars
as well. Many sites thought to be lava tubes are detected by the presence of these curvy channels, and more recently, the Setty Institute announced the discovery of possible skylights or lava tube openings in a crater near the north pole of the Moon, using images obtained from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance orbiter. But lava tubes are a tricky business. Scientific technology is
still playing catchup and identifying these underground habitats. We also spoke by email with Leonardo Career of the Remote Sensing Laboratory at the University of Trento. He said the main difficulty comes from the fact that lava tubes are essentially subsurface structures. Very few instruments are capable of performing direct measurements of underground structures. The Careers team is working to modernize the technology and thus aid future human settlement of
these lunar caves. The technology involves using radar which can detect lava tubes from orbit based on their unique electromagnetic signatures. Basically, they can probe below the surface of the Moon using low frequency electromagnetic waves and then measure the reflected waves that come back to them. Those reflections offer insight into a lava tube's characteristics, like its shape, size, and composition.
But one thing is clear, lava tubes on the Moon and Mars are invaluable as natural potential habitats, or at the very least could serve as convenient storage units between space missions. Meanwhile, back on Earth, scientists are preparing for future missions to the Moon and Mars through a little cave diving. The European Space Agency developed a program called Pangaea that prepares European astronauts to explore other planets. One of its projects concerns a lava tube in Spain called
Corona that's eight kilometers long or about five miles. The team has undertaken advanced mapping of the tube to create a three D model that's accurate down to the millimeter. They've also been testing out new robots or rovers to identify how best to navigate these tubes, developing a greater understanding of the challenges associated with incursions into lava tubes
on other planets in the process. Other researchers have also taken an interest in exploring the microbiology of lava tubes by focusing their efforts on the Lava Beds National Monument in California. This project, funded by the Canadian Space Agency, is looking to explore lava tubes as habitats of micro organisms, which may leave traces behind through certain minerals and thus indicate the presence of life once upon a time, which is cool enough on Earth, but would be an amazing
find on the Moon or Mars. So what's the difference between lava tubes on Earth and their lunar and Martian counterparts? Well, gravity, for one, The lower gravity on the Moon and Mars seems to impact the size of lava tubes significantly. Tubes on Mars can stretch for two hundred and fifty in width or about eight hundred twenty feet, and tubes on the Moon can reach a whopping kilometer or more across
that's about two thirds of a mile. The lower gravity also stabilizes the roofs of these tubes and causes fewer collapses, especially on the Moon, thereby creating a potentially safer dwelling for human habitation. But otherwise, lava tubes on Earth are fairly similar in composition and structure to those on the Moon and Mars, and serves excellent reference points for researchers.
The potential for lunar caves and possible human settlements has many people excited, even the White Houses making a bid for Moon colonies in the near future, and the possibility of answering whether life has existed or may still flourish in caves on Mars is a tantalizing one for space explorers. But if you're wondering whether or not Martians will be found hey ing around these lava tubes on the Red planet,
the answer is likely no, unless you count microbial critters. Radiation, a dry environment, and fridge and temperatures make the planet inhospitable to most forms of life. While using ground rovers to access lava tubes on the Moon and Mars could be difficult due to surface conditions, other devices are being developed to aid these explorations, including climbing and hopping pit bots and flying helicopter like vehicles, likes of which may
appear in NASA's Mars rover mission. Today's episode was written by Terra yr Lagata and produced by Tyler Clang. Rain Stuff is a production of iHeart Radio's How Stuff Works. For more on this and lots of other totally tubular topics, visit our home planet, how stuff Works dot com. And for more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.