WEBVTT - Could Earthly Lava Structures Help Us Colonize Space? 0:00:01.920 --> 0:00:06.800 Welcome to Brainstuff production of I Heart Radio, Hey brain 0:00:06.840 --> 0:00:10.280 Stuff Lauren vocal bamb here. Ever, since Neil Armstrong first 0:00:10.320 --> 0:00:12.639 set foot on the Moon, scientists have been toyed with 0:00:12.680 --> 0:00:15.840 the idea of forming potential colonies there and more recently 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:20.360 on Mars too. But extreme fluctuating temperatures, cosmic radiation and 0:00:20.440 --> 0:00:24.439 micro meteorite showers colloquially known as space dust pose challenges 0:00:24.480 --> 0:00:28.560 to human excavation of both the Moon and Mars. However, 0:00:28.800 --> 0:00:32.840 astrobiologists are in the process of exploring nifty geological structures 0:00:32.920 --> 0:00:35.720 that could serve as natural shelter from these harsh elements. 0:00:36.120 --> 0:00:40.159 Lava tubes. So what are lava tubes? We spoke via 0:00:40.240 --> 0:00:43.479 email with Dr Ricardo Pozibon of the Department of Geosciences 0:00:43.520 --> 0:00:46.280 at the University of Padova. He's been at the forefront 0:00:46.320 --> 0:00:49.960 of European research on lava tubes. He explained. Lava tubes 0:00:50.000 --> 0:00:52.879 are caves that are carved by flowing lava that's eventually 0:00:52.960 --> 0:00:57.640 drained out, leaving a subsurface void. Although there are different 0:00:57.640 --> 0:01:00.720 types of lava tube formations, these caves often form out 0:01:00.720 --> 0:01:03.600 of a type of fluid basaltic lava that flows down 0:01:03.600 --> 0:01:06.920 a slope like the side of a volcano. As the 0:01:06.920 --> 0:01:09.640 outermost portion of the hot lava flow comes in contact 0:01:09.640 --> 0:01:12.880 with the cold air, it cools rapidly, forming a hardened crust, 0:01:13.360 --> 0:01:15.959 but liquid lava continues to flow like water in a 0:01:16.040 --> 0:01:19.840 channel underneath this newly hardened surface. At some point that 0:01:19.959 --> 0:01:23.119 liquid lava runs out and cools underneath the surface, forming 0:01:23.160 --> 0:01:27.000 a curvy tube shaped structure, and thus a lava tube 0:01:27.080 --> 0:01:31.160 is born. Geologists no lava tubes from volcanic areas in 0:01:31.200 --> 0:01:34.039 Hawaii or Iceland, but they've also become a hot commodity 0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:37.600 within the astrobiology community due to high resolution images indicating 0:01:37.600 --> 0:01:39.640 that lava tubes may exist on the Moon and Mars 0:01:39.680 --> 0:01:42.600 as well. Many sites thought to be lava tubes are 0:01:42.600 --> 0:01:46.319 detected by the presence of these curvy channels, and more recently, 0:01:46.520 --> 0:01:49.800 the Setty Institute announced the discovery of possible skylights or 0:01:49.880 --> 0:01:52.559 lava tube openings in a crater near the north pole 0:01:52.560 --> 0:01:56.000 of the Moon, using images obtained from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance orbiter. 0:01:56.960 --> 0:02:00.160 But lava tubes are a tricky business. Scientific technology is 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:04.480 still playing catchup and identifying these underground habitats. We also 0:02:04.520 --> 0:02:07.160 spoke by email with Leonardo Career of the Remote Sensing 0:02:07.240 --> 0:02:10.639 Laboratory at the University of Trento. He said the main 0:02:10.680 --> 0:02:13.160 difficulty comes from the fact that lava tubes are essentially 0:02:13.200 --> 0:02:17.160 subsurface structures. Very few instruments are capable of performing direct 0:02:17.160 --> 0:02:21.280 measurements of underground structures. The Careers team is working to 0:02:21.320 --> 0:02:24.560 modernize the technology and thus aid future human settlement of 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:28.280 these lunar caves. The technology involves using radar which can 0:02:28.320 --> 0:02:33.680 detect lava tubes from orbit based on their unique electromagnetic signatures. Basically, 0:02:33.800 --> 0:02:35.880 they can probe below the surface of the Moon using 0:02:35.919 --> 0:02:39.680 low frequency electromagnetic waves and then measure the reflected waves 0:02:39.680 --> 0:02:42.520 that come back to them. Those reflections offer insight into 0:02:42.560 --> 0:02:45.839 a lava tube's characteristics, like its shape, size, and composition. 0:02:46.960 --> 0:02:49.960 But one thing is clear, lava tubes on the Moon 0:02:50.040 --> 0:02:53.960 and Mars are invaluable as natural potential habitats, or at 0:02:53.960 --> 0:02:56.680 the very least could serve as convenient storage units between 0:02:56.720 --> 0:03:01.320 space missions. Meanwhile, back on Earth, scientists are preparing for 0:03:01.360 --> 0:03:03.520 future missions to the Moon and Mars through a little 0:03:03.600 --> 0:03:07.240 cave diving. The European Space Agency developed a program called 0:03:07.280 --> 0:03:11.760 Pangaea that prepares European astronauts to explore other planets. One 0:03:11.760 --> 0:03:14.240 of its projects concerns a lava tube in Spain called 0:03:14.280 --> 0:03:18.040 Corona that's eight kilometers long or about five miles. The 0:03:18.080 --> 0:03:20.800 team has undertaken advanced mapping of the tube to create 0:03:20.800 --> 0:03:23.040 a three D model that's accurate down to the millimeter. 0:03:23.760 --> 0:03:26.440 They've also been testing out new robots or rovers to 0:03:26.560 --> 0:03:29.800 identify how best to navigate these tubes, developing a greater 0:03:29.880 --> 0:03:33.120 understanding of the challenges associated with incursions into lava tubes 0:03:33.160 --> 0:03:37.240 on other planets in the process. Other researchers have also 0:03:37.280 --> 0:03:40.280 taken an interest in exploring the microbiology of lava tubes 0:03:40.440 --> 0:03:43.200 by focusing their efforts on the Lava Beds National Monument 0:03:43.240 --> 0:03:47.360 in California. This project, funded by the Canadian Space Agency, 0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:50.840 is looking to explore lava tubes as habitats of micro organisms, 0:03:51.000 --> 0:03:54.080 which may leave traces behind through certain minerals and thus 0:03:54.120 --> 0:03:57.120 indicate the presence of life once upon a time, which 0:03:57.240 --> 0:03:59.360 is cool enough on Earth, but would be an amazing 0:03:59.400 --> 0:04:02.880 find on the Moon or Mars. So what's the difference 0:04:02.880 --> 0:04:07.240 between lava tubes on Earth and their lunar and Martian counterparts? Well, gravity, 0:04:07.280 --> 0:04:09.760 for one, The lower gravity on the Moon and Mars 0:04:09.840 --> 0:04:13.560 seems to impact the size of lava tubes significantly. Tubes 0:04:13.600 --> 0:04:15.960 on Mars can stretch for two hundred and fifty in 0:04:15.960 --> 0:04:18.520 width or about eight hundred twenty feet, and tubes on 0:04:18.560 --> 0:04:20.880 the Moon can reach a whopping kilometer or more across 0:04:20.960 --> 0:04:23.839 that's about two thirds of a mile. The lower gravity 0:04:23.880 --> 0:04:27.520 also stabilizes the roofs of these tubes and causes fewer collapses, 0:04:27.800 --> 0:04:31.080 especially on the Moon, thereby creating a potentially safer dwelling 0:04:31.080 --> 0:04:34.800 for human habitation. But otherwise, lava tubes on Earth are 0:04:34.800 --> 0:04:37.159 fairly similar in composition and structure to those on the 0:04:37.160 --> 0:04:40.640 Moon and Mars, and serves excellent reference points for researchers. 0:04:42.120 --> 0:04:45.200 The potential for lunar caves and possible human settlements has 0:04:45.200 --> 0:04:47.880 many people excited, even the White Houses making a bid 0:04:47.880 --> 0:04:50.799 for Moon colonies in the near future, and the possibility 0:04:50.800 --> 0:04:53.640 of answering whether life has existed or may still flourish 0:04:53.720 --> 0:04:56.680 in caves on Mars is a tantalizing one for space explorers. 0:04:57.320 --> 0:04:59.480 But if you're wondering whether or not Martians will be 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:01.720 found hey ing around these lava tubes on the Red planet, 0:05:01.960 --> 0:05:06.320 the answer is likely no, unless you count microbial critters. Radiation, 0:05:06.360 --> 0:05:08.920 a dry environment, and fridge and temperatures make the planet 0:05:08.920 --> 0:05:12.919 inhospitable to most forms of life. While using ground rovers 0:05:12.960 --> 0:05:14.760 to access lava tubes on the Moon and Mars could 0:05:14.760 --> 0:05:17.800 be difficult due to surface conditions, other devices are being 0:05:17.839 --> 0:05:21.360 developed to aid these explorations, including climbing and hopping pit 0:05:21.480 --> 0:05:24.720 bots and flying helicopter like vehicles, likes of which may 0:05:24.760 --> 0:05:33.520 appear in NASA's Mars rover mission. Today's episode was written 0:05:33.520 --> 0:05:36.600 by Terra yr Lagata and produced by Tyler Clang. Rain 0:05:36.640 --> 0:05:38.880 Stuff is a production of iHeart Radio's How Stuff Works. 0:05:39.120 --> 0:05:41.760 For more on this and lots of other totally tubular topics, 0:05:41.960 --> 0:05:44.560 visit our home planet, how stuff Works dot com. And 0:05:44.640 --> 0:05:46.799 for more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeart 0:05:46.839 --> 0:05:49.320 Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 0:05:49.360 --> 0:05:50.000 favorite shows.