An international team of scientists using data from NASA’s LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) has discovered evidence of caves beneath the Moon’s surface.
一个国际科学家小组利用美国宇航局 LRO（月球勘测轨道飞行器）的数据发现了月球表面下洞穴的证据。
In re-analyzing radar data collected by LRO’s Mini-RF (Miniature Radio-Frequency) instrument in 2010, the team found evidence of a cave extending more than 200 feet from the base of a pit. The pit is located 230 miles northeast of the first human landing site on the Moon in Mare Tranquillitatis. The full extent of the cave is unknown, but it could stretch for miles beneath the mare.
在重新分析 LRO 的 Mini-RF（微型射频）仪器 2010 年收集的雷达数据时，该团队发现了一个从坑底延伸超过 200 英尺的洞穴的证据。该坑位于静海 (Mare Tranquillitatis) 人类第一个月球着陆点东北 230 英里处。洞穴的全部范围尚不清楚，但它可能在月海下方延伸数英里。
Scientists have suspected for decades that there are subsurface caves on the Moon, just like there are on Earth. Pits that may lead to caves were suggested in images from NASA’s lunar orbiters that mapped the Moon’s surface before NASA’s Apollo human landings. A pit was then confirmed in 2009 from images taken by JAXA’s (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Kaguya orbiter, and many have since been found across the Moon through images and thermal measurements of the surface taken by LRO.
几十年来，科学家们一直怀疑月球上也存在地下洞穴，就像地球上一样。在美国宇航局阿波罗载人登陆之前，美国宇航局月球轨道器拍摄的月球表面地图显示，这些坑可能通向洞穴。 2009 年，JAXA（日本宇宙航空研究开发机构）Kaguya 轨道飞行器拍摄的图像证实了一个坑，此后通过 LRO 拍摄的图像和表面热测量在月球上发现了许多坑。
“Now the analysis of the Mini-RF radar data tells us how far these caves might extend,” said Noah Petro, LRO project scientist based at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
“现在，对迷你射频雷达数据的分析告诉我们这些洞穴可能延伸多远，”位于马里兰州格林贝尔特的 NASA 戈达德太空飞行中心的 LRO 项目科学家诺亚·佩特罗 (Noah Petro) 说。
Like “lava tubes” found here on Earth, scientists suspect that lunar caves formed when molten lava flowed beneath a field of cooled lava, or a crust formed over a river of lava, leaving a long, hollow tunnel. If the ceiling of a solidified lava tube collapses, it opens a pit, like a skylight, that can lead into the rest of the cave-like tube.
就像在地球上发现的“熔岩管”一样，科学家怀疑月球洞穴是在熔岩在冷却的熔岩场下方流动时形成的，或者是在熔岩河上形成了地壳，留下了一条长长的中空隧道。如果凝固的熔岩管的顶部塌陷，就会打开一个坑，就像天窗一样，可以通向洞穴状管的其余部分。
Mini-RF is operated by The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. LRO is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Launched on June 18, 2009, LRO has collected a treasure trove of data with its seven powerful instruments, making an invaluable contribution to our knowledge about the Moon. NASA is returning to the Moon with commercial and international partners to expand human presence in space and bring back new knowledge and opportunities.
Mini-RF 由位于马里兰州劳雷尔的约翰·霍普金斯应用物理实验室运营。 LRO 由美国宇航局位于马里兰州格林贝尔特的戈达德太空飞行中心为华盛顿美国宇航局总部的科学任务理事会管理。 LRO 于 2009 年 6 月 18 日发射，通过其七台强大的仪器收集了丰富的数据，为我们对月球的了解做出了宝贵的贡献。美国宇航局正在与商业和国际合作伙伴一起重返月球，以扩大人类在太空的存在并带回新的知识和机会。