NASA has spotted a strange pit on the Martian surface, and scientists believe that it could be a gateway to underground shelters for future human explorers.

Lava Tube on Mars

Just like the Moon, Mars is considered a rich destination for astronomical discoveries that would enable humans to travel far from Earth. The Red Planet remains our target for human exploration since it is believed to be the other planet in the Solar System where life could possibly exist.

Since the 1960s, several orbiters, landers, and rovers have been sent to Mars with the goal of exploring its surface in preparation for human colonization. Just recently, NASA prepared for its Artemis mission, which involved the creation of a lunar base and laid the groundwork for future journeys to the Red Planet.

Data from space missions, however, revealed that Mars has some features which makes it different from the Earth. Because of this, human visitors would need some place as shelter against temperature changes, radiation, and dust storms that plague the Red Planet.

If Mars resembles the Earth or the moon, it could contain huge subterranean lava tubes that have the potential to provide shelter. Collapsed areas of lava tubes, known as skylights, can offer access to these underground refuges.

READ ALSO: Astronauts Train to Explore Lava Tubes on the Moon and Mars


Unexplainable Hole on the Martian Surface

Just recently, the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HIRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has captured an image which reveals a remarkable feature of the Martian surface. It shows a hole only a few meters across and is located in the Arsia Mons region of the planet. Arsia Mons refers to one of the three dormant volcanoes found in the Tharsis Montes group of three volcanoes.

The Tharsis Region of the Tharsis Bulge is a wide volcanic plain which measures thousands of kilometers across. Compared to the rest of the Red Planet, it is elevated with an average of 33,000 feet (10 kilometers) above the mean elevation of Mars.

The Tharsis Region was volcanically active in the past. This means that geological features like the mysterious pit could be the direct result of an ancient volcanic activity.

Scientists proposed that several holes in the Arsia Mons region could be collapsed skylights or openings into underground lava tubes, although there is still much uncertainty about this. One of their images shows an illuminated sidewall, an indication that it is not just a cylindrical hole.

Another possibility is that the pit in the featured image might only be a shaft and not an entrance to a lava tube. In fact, such a tube exists on Hawaiian volcanoes, where they are called pit craters. They are not connected to long caves or lava tubes, but are the result of a collapse which happened much deeper underground.

However, Mars is a different world, and there is no reason that lava tubes do not exist on this planet. As a matter of fact, the gravity on Mars is much weaker than Earth's, a condition that would allow for larger lava tubes.

Until now, the presence of lava tubes on Mars remains a mystery. While experts found enough evidence that the lava tubes on the Red Planet are plentiful, it still cannot be assumed that they are actually there. Astronomers would first need to send a robotic mission to explore the Martian surface and locate the presence of lava tubes.

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