NASA's GIMLI project will hunt for a secret moon cave

NASA has selected a project called GIMLI to investigate a possible underground cave on the moon, the space agency announced.

The idea centers on the Marius Hill Pit, discovered in 2009 by Japan's Kaguya moon orbiter. Scientists suspect the pit may connect to a larger cavernous tube carved out by ancient lava.

The project's full name is Geophysical Instruments for Marius Lunar pit Investigation. It was chosen along with two other programs meant to support NASA's goal of building a future moon base near the south pole.

"NASA Science is building the ultimate interplanetary survival guide to ensure that science goes first to the lunar surface to provide our future astronaut crews with the vital information, resources, and safety precautions needed ahead of time to survive the night on the moon," Nicky Fox, NASA's associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, said in a statement.

Confirming a lava tube would do two things, said GIMLI deputy principal investigator Gareth Morgan in a separate statement: "It would give us an insight into how volcanism operated on the moon." He added that lava tubes are a common feature of basaltic volcanism on Earth, so identifying them on the moon means researchers could use their knowledge of terrestrial caves to understand lunar history.

The cave could also serve as a natural shelter for astronauts, protecting from extreme temperatures, radiation exposure and micrometeorites. A future moon base will likely include human-made shelters, but a ready-made cave would be an existing resource.

The investigation is led by the nonprofit Planetary Science Institute (PSI) and funded through NASA's Payloads and Research Investigations on the Surface of the Moon (PRISM) program. Honeybee Robotics will help build the equipment.

The gear will reach the moon aboard a lander and rover via NASA's Commercial Lunar Payloads Services program. The data will be studied by a team led by PSI associate director and senior scientist Than Putzig, working with the Norwegian Space Agency.

From the lunar surface, GIMLI will use ground-penetrating radar, seismic sensors and a gravimeter to scan beneath the surface. The instruments will determine if a subsurface lava tube exists and how big it is, including whether it could fit an astronaut crew.

• GIMLI
• Honeybee Robotics
• lava tube
• Marius Hill Pit
• moon base
• Planetary Science Institute