Featured Image Credit: Barrie Harwood / S.E.A/ Alamy
Topics: Technology, Space, Science
Joe Harker
The possibility of living on the moon just got a whole lot more real after a groundbreaking new discovery.
If a human ever wanted to live on the moon they'd have a lot of problems to get around, the biggest of which being the lack of breathable oxygen that would kill any prospective settlers within a few minutes.
People not being able to breathe in space is a pretty big hurdle to cover, but even if we crack that little chestnut there are still other big issues.
One of the other big problems we'd have to deal with is the massive shift in temperatures on the moon's surface.
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The surface temperature of the moon swings wildly between boiling hot 260F (about 126C) and freezing cold -280F (-173C) during lunar days and nights, meaning any chance of comfortable living on a moonbase is going to be difficult.
Bases would have to be built which could survive the fluctuations in temperature every day for an essentially indefinite period.
NASA is not even sure that it's possible to build a facility where the people and equipment could survive long term.
The endless cycle of boiling and freezing would put the strain on any lunar outpost, but that could all be about to change.
A new discovery from a team of researchers from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) might have figured out the solution to the temperature problem.
They've discovered pits and caves on the moon with plenty of shade to dodge the cycle of burning and freezing where the temperature is a steady 63F (around 17C).
The shade and cover of the caves and pits helps keep the baking heat away while also preventing too much heat from leaving during the colder times, making it the ideal place for humans to set up bases.
Cracking the temperature problem with this groundbreaking new discovery means scientists have more information to go on when tackling the other problems faced by living on the moon.
Problems such as how to create a sustainable amount of oxygen and how to grow food on the moon, because even in the future supermarket delivery services will probably not ferry your shopping up to the moon.
Lunar temperature of over 100C definitely put our recent heatwave into perspective, so if anyone fancies living on the moon in the future it's likely they'll be living in caves.
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