Newly discovered moon cave could house future lunar explorers, researchers say

July 15 (UPI) -- New findings published Monday suggest a recently discovered cave on the moon could be a good place for future explorers to find shelter from outside elements in a possible base location, according to Italian researchers.

"These caves have been theorized for over 50 years, but it is the first time ever that we have demonstrated their existence," Lorenzo Bruzzone, professor at the University of Trento, said .

The research by a team of international scientists was published Monday in the scientific journal Nature Astronomy under the lead of the University of Trento in Italy.

The newly discovered cave on Earth's neighboring satellite appears to be 147 feet wide, 262 feet long at roughly 492 feet beneath the moon's surface and reachable from an open pit 328 foot wide in the Mare Tranquillitatis, or "Sea of Tranquility," region of the moon.

It's theorized to be the size of 14 tennis courts bordered by vertical or overhanging walls leading to a sloping floor and cave that extends some distance westward.

At least 200 moon pits have been spotted, many in lava fields that could be entrances to cavernous subterranean lava tubes, researchers say.

"The main advantage of caves is that they make available the main structural parts of a possible human base without requiring complex construction activities," Leonardo Carrer, the study's first author, said.

The data was collected by NASA's lunar reconnaissance orbiter in what is known to likely be an ancient lava plain. The study was partially funded by the Italian Space Agency and involved researchers of the University of Padua and La Venta Geographic Explorations APS.

The newly published report arrived the same day NASA began festivities to commemorate the 55th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the moon's surface which took place July 20, 1969.

Helen Sharman, the first British astronaut to be in space, told the BBC that the newly discovered cave looked like a good spot for a base, going so far as to suggest humans could potentially be living in lunar pits in 20-30 years.

"We currently know very little about the underground structures below these pit entrances," Katherine Joy, professor in earth sciences at the University of Manchester in Britain, told The Guardian .

A European Space Agency official told BBC News there is "very good" surface images up to 25 cm of resolution but also echoed that "we know nothing about what lies below the surface."

"There are huge opportunities for discovery," Francesco Sauro, coordinator of the Topical Team Planetary Caves of the European Space Agency, said.