Karst caves could be a good analogue for lunar lava tubes on Earth - by AndyTomaswick
UT video on the lunar lava tubes that might house humanity’s first permanent lunar base.
A more regular danger is the temperature extremes on the lunar surface. The Moon is actually exceptionally hot – at least for approximately 50% of the time when it’s in direct sunlight. During those weeks, it reaches temperatures of 127° C. On the flip side , the lunar night drops temperatures to an extreme of -173° C.
Karst caves are formed when limestone is eroded away by groundwater and offer some of the most stunning examples of caves on the planet. Some of the most spectacular are in the Chinese province of Chongqing and have tens of thousands of meters of internal surface area, which would be more than enough to house a small human outpost. They also offer an opportunity to test three different scenarios that would be impossible to do with a wholly artificial biosphere.
Second, determining what sort of daylight system might be necessary to keep the occupants healthy. Self-contained surface habitats would be subjected to the lunar day/night cycle, which takes approximately two weeks, and can completely throw off the circadian rhythms of its inhabitants. Caves allow for more direct control of the environmental factors surrounding daylight, but it is unclear how best to display that to the people inside.
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