A British scientist has found two possible cave entrances on the Moon that could support human survival - and even serve as a base for trips to MARS.
Daniel Le Corre, a PhD researcher at the University of Kent, found the pits by using an AI model to scan the lunar surface.
He quickly found two sites: the South Marius Hills Pit (SMHP) and the Bel’kovich A Pit (BAP).
The latter is believed to be a more likely source of water as it is close to the Moon's north pole.
Identification of the Bel'kovich A Pit (BAP). (University of Kent via SWNS)
By Talker
But both connect to underground cave networks, such as lava tubes, which could provide natural shelter from harmful radiation and micrometeorite impacts, as well as harbor water ice.
And it’s this which makes them of interest to scientists as good bases for humans exploring or living on the Moon - and hopefully one day even Mars, the university said.
The pits were detected using an AI model named ESSA, short for ‘Entrances to Sub-Surface Areas’ and a nod to the Cornish name of Le Corre’s hometown, Saltash.
Daniel Le Corre, a PhD researcher at the University of Kent. (University of Kent via SWNS)
By Talker
He trained it to scan publicly available NASA satellite images and identify potential pits in the Lunar surface based on their distinctive shape.
The two newly-identified pits will supplement the existing Lunar Pits Atlas and could one day become a target for future space missions, or even a home for today’s aspiring astronauts.
Le Corre said: "Having combed through such a small fraction of the entire Lunar surface, I was amazed that ESSA had already detected two new potential cave entrances.
"I was even more surprised how SMHP was found in a previously surveyed region, and BAP was so near to the north pole.
Identification of the South Marius Hills Pit. (University of Kent via SWNS)
By Talker
"Thanks to ESSA, we can now analyse volumes of space data at speeds that would have been unachievable manually, thus accelerating the search for the pits that will be the most favourable for future exploration or habitation."
The research paper ‘New candidate cave entrances on the Moon found using deep learning’ is published by Icarus. doi: 10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116675
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