First open lava tube may have been found, by Kaguya team |
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First open lava tube may have been found, by Kaguya team |
 Oct 26 2009, 06:02 PM
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#1
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Member  Group: Members Posts: 173 Joined: 9-September 08 Member No.: 4334  |
The New Scientist website has an article saying that an opening which might be a lava tube mouth has been found in Kaguya images.
Wasn't there a proposal (possibly from one of the Lunar X Prize teams?) of a Lava Tube Explorer rover? This might be a possible destination... |
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Oct 26 2009, 06:14 PM
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#2
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 4508 Joined: 5-April 05 From: Canada Member No.: 227 |
Yes, that proposal was from Astrobotic, for a follow-on lander after the GLXP attempt. I think they imagined driving into an open cave mouth, not descending vertically into a pit.
If solar proton-produced water can migrate to the poles and gather in shadowed crater floors, I assume it can also gather in a hole like this. Here it would also be protected from micrometeorite erosion. Phil -------------------- ... because the Solar System ain't gonna map itself.
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Oct 27 2009, 11:24 AM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 4508 Joined: 5-April 05 From: Canada Member No.: 227 |
-------------------- ... because the Solar System ain't gonna map itself.
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Oct 27 2009, 12:11 PM
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#4
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 Member Group: Members Posts: 964 Joined: 26-July 08 Member No.: 4270 |
What amazes me is how circular this feature, and its counterparts on Mars, appear in images of them.
-------------------- -- Hungry4info (Sirius_Alpha)
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| Guest_mcgyver_* |
Nov 12 2009, 05:12 PM
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#5
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Guests |
I thought lava was never suposed to have flown around on the moon...
 Anyway it would be a great discovery: it wuld save TONS of money in building a permanent base on the moon, if we can just hide inside a cavern, rather than inflating an habitat and covering it with regolite! 
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Nov 12 2009, 06:32 PM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 128 Joined: 28-October 08 From: Boston, MA Member No.: 4469 |
The lunar maria were created by lava flows billions of years ago. I think the most recent of these happened 1.2 billion years ago, so presumably the lava tubes are at least that old. Probably much older, depending on their locations... I'm assuming that the lava tubes can be dated by the age of the surrounding basalt.
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| Guest_mcgyver_* |
Nov 12 2009, 08:00 PM
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#7
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Guests |
QUOTE (Poolio @ Nov 12 2009, 06:32 PM)  The lunar maria were created by lava flows billions of years ago. I think the most recent of these happened 1.2 billion years ago, so presumably the lava tubes are at least that old. Probably much older, depending on their locations... I'm assuming that the lava tubes can be dated by the age of the surrounding basalt. but it was not volcanic activity, if I remember correctly lava came out due to asteroids impacts. lava tube require active volcanoes. |
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Nov 12 2009, 08:14 PM
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#8
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 Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 6474 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
The Moon did have vulcanism way, way back in the day; there are cinder cones scattered around. It's all ancient, of course.
-------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Nov 12 2009, 08:21 PM
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#9
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 4508 Joined: 5-April 05 From: Canada Member No.: 227 |
mcgyver, you are a bit out of date. The argument you are making was espoused by Harold Urey in the 1960s. The other view was championed by Gene Shoemaker. Apollo samples, most of which are basalt lava, proved Urey wrong, as he was quick to admit. There's a really good book on this, 'To a Rocky Moon' by Don Wilhelms. Well worth a read.
Phil -------------------- ... because the Solar System ain't gonna map itself.
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Nov 12 2009, 08:39 PM
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 Senior Member Group: Admin Posts: 4495 Joined: 15-March 05 From: Sloughhouse, CA Member No.: 197 |
QUOTE (Poolio @ Nov 12 2009, 10:32 AM) the most recent of these happened 1.2 billion years ago, so presumably the lava tubes are at least that old. Sure it's a good price, but something that old is going to need a new roof, and I can't even imagine what shape the plumbing is in. Lava tube? More like a money pit. -------------------- If Occam had heard my theory, things would be very different now.
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Nov 12 2009, 11:45 PM
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 Member Group: Members Posts: 242 Joined: 23-January 05 From: Seattle, WA Member No.: 156 |
I think it's worth mentioning (again) that To a Rocky Moon is available online.
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Oct 12 2011, 06:22 AM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 138 Joined: 1-October 06 Member No.: 1206 |
Debated whether to add to such an old thread, but I thought this was interesting
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/caves2011/pdf/8008.pdf Some amazing oblique images new to me at least... P |
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Oct 12 2011, 03:56 PM
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#13
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 Bloggette par Excellence Group: Admin Posts: 3959 Joined: 4-August 05 From: Pasadena, CA, USA, Earth Member No.: 454 |
Oh those are very cool. Gotta dig into the data to see if those are available. Here are the numbers of the images from the caption, if anyone else wants to search:
Mare Tranquillitatis pit A: near-nadir image (M126710873R) and B: 7° emission angle image (M155016845R), collectively reveal more than 90 percent of the floor, both images are approximately 175 m wide. C: Oblique view (26° emission angle; M152662021R), a significant portion of the illuminated area is beneath overhanging mare. Layering is revealed in D, E, & F (M155023632R and M144395745L, respectively). -------------------- |
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Oct 12 2011, 07:47 PM
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#14
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Senior Member Group: Admin Posts: 4495 Joined: 15-March 05 From: Sloughhouse, CA Member No.: 197 |
M126710873R
http://wms.lroc.asu.edu/lroc/view_lroc/LRO....0/M126710873RE M155016845R http://wms.lroc.asu.edu/lroc/view_lroc/LRO....0/M155016845RC M152662021R http://wms.lroc.asu.edu/lroc/view_lroc/LRO....0/M152662021RC -------------------- If Occam had heard my theory, things would be very different now.
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