Images from the Narrow Angle Camera on NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter show that there are more than two hundred mysterious pit holes on the moon. The first few pits were noticed in images taken by the Japanese Kaguya spacecraft, and then hundreds more of them were identified using a computer algorithm to scan thousands of lunar surface images.
Images from the Narrow Angle Camera on NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter show that there are more than two hundred mysterious pit holes on the moon.
The first few pits were noticed in images taken by the Japanese Kaguya spacecraft, and then hundreds more of them were identified using a computer algorithm to scan thousands of lunar surface images
Experts aren’t sure how the large holes in the moon got there, but they are believed to be caused by collapsing caves or ancient lava flows, and are noticeably different than impact craters caused by meteorites.
The size of the pits reportedly range from 16 feet to three thousand feet, and some of them get even wider underground.
Reports say that they could be used in the future as the location of human settlements when astronauts colonize the moon.
Some of the benefits of settlements being positioned inside the pits include protection from the harsh elements on the moon like radiation, dust, micrometeorites, and extreme temperature fluctuations.
Only forty percent of the moon’s surface has been recorded with the right lighting to discern the pits, so there are probably many more that haven’t been discovered yet.
