Mia Williams
Caves that have been discovered beneath the Moon's surface could be used for future colonies.
There's nothing more exciting than a space break-through, and this month has seen a pretty enormous one.
A research team led by the University of Trento in Italy, published a study which suggested that caves beneath the surface of the Moon had been identified - and they could be really useful.
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In fact, the discovery could be crucial, as it seems as though astronauts could one day find shelter in these caves when traveling through space.
The caves and tunnels have been theorized about by scientists for over half a century.
A small breakthrough was made in 2009, when a team of experts identified a deep hole on the lunar surface, supporting the idea that the caves could exist.
And they were made as a result of lava cooling below the surface.
Upon going about the latest discovery, researchers reviewed what they had learnt in 2010 from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter - a spacecraft that has been orbiting the Moon since 2009, mapping the surface and searching for potential landing sites for future opportunities.
Speaking to Wired, Lorenzo Bruzzone, coordinator of the research, said: "We analyzed these images with complex signal processing technologies recently developed in our laboratory, and found that part of the radar reflections from an area of the Sea of Tranquility can be attributed to an underground conduit."
Leonardo Carrer, first author on the paper, added: "This discovery provides the first direct evidence of an accessible rock tunnel beneath the surface of the moon.
"It is very likely to be an emptied lava tube."
As scientists discovered long ago, the Moon isn't exactly the safest environment for humans to be in.
Meteorites and radiation make the celestial object a very hostile place to be.
In fact, cosmic and solar radiation is up to 150 times stronger than what we experience on Earth, and it goes without saying that the threat of meteorites is non-stop.
Sheltered areas therefore need to be found to protect astronauts, and it looks as though this discovery could be the first step in the right direction.
The caves will be key for the construction of long-term infrastructure in space, and astronauts may find that they make great temporary homes.
However, they won't be winning any awards for being the most practical home of all time, as experts have suggested that astronauts might need to abseil in and potentially use jet packs to get out, due to their depth.