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Scientists find candidate lunar lava tubes by combining orbital images, elevation data, thermal measurements, and—in promising cases—radar. These observations can reveal a pit, suggest a possible skylight, or support evidence of a cave extending underground. They do not automatically prove that a pit is volcanic, nor do they provide a complete map of a tube’s interior.
The Mare Tranquillitatis pit is the clearest current example: NASA reported in 2024 that reanalysis of Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) radar data supports a cave extending more than 200 feet from the pit’s base. Its full extent remains unknown.
What counts as finding a lunar lava tube?
A useful map must distinguish observations from interpretations. A pit is a visible surface depression with steep walls; a possible skylight is a pit that may open into an underground void. Radar evidence can support the presence of a cave, but calling it a lava tube is an interpretation about its origin. A mapped lava tube, in the strict sense, would require evidence of its interior geometry—not just a surface opening or a possible underground extension.
That distinction matters because a pit’s appearance alone does not establish how it formed. NASA’s 2014 account noted that the appearance of lunar pits offered little evidence for a specific cause, and that orbital viewing geometry can hide lower walls and floor-level caves. NASA’s discussion of lunar pits explains why surface images cannot settle the question by themselves.
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How scientists search for candidate tubes
1. Find pits and inspect their morphology
Start with Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) images. Look for steep walls, overhangs, and visible features on the floor or walls that could be consistent with an opening. Comparing images taken under different illumination conditions can help reveal relief and distinguish visible features from shadows.
These clues identify candidates, not confirmed caves. From orbit, parts of the lower walls and the floor may be hidden; an apparent overhang or dark region cannot, by itself, show what lies below the surface.
2. Measure the surface shape
Use LROC stereo image pairs to build a three-dimensional view, then add elevation and slope information from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA). NASA gives a resolution range of 0.5–2 meters per pixel for LRO stereo pairs used to create 3D surface views. LRO-derived topographic maps are described by NASA as the most accurate lunar maps to date.
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Relief data help locate the rim, characterize the walls, and assess what parts of the feature are visible. They map the surface around a pit; they do not reveal an unseen passage simply because the surrounding terrain is well measured. See NASA’s overview of LRO science and data.
3. Add thermal context
LRO’s Diviner instrument measures lunar thermal conditions. Thermal data can help characterize shadowed areas and temperature patterns, but they are not a complete cave survey and cannot, on their own, establish a tube’s shape or volcanic origin.
For the Mare Tranquillitatis pit, NASA reported in 2022 that data and modeling indicated temperatures near 63°F (17°C) in permanently shadowed reaches. That figure describes the pit environment; applying it to an underground extension is conditional on the cave extending from that pit. It should not be treated as a typical temperature for all lunar pits or confirmed cave interiors. NASA’s account of the thermal findings gives the context.
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4. Look for evidence below the surface
Radar can provide evidence that a void extends beyond a visible pit. In 2024, NASA reported that reanalysis of Mini-RF data collected by LRO in 2010 supported a cave extending more than 200 feet from the base of the Mare Tranquillitatis pit. The reported distance is an extension from the pit base—not the cave’s full length, which remains unknown. NASA’s 2024 report on the Mini-RF analysis describes the finding.
How to build an evidence-labeled map
Keep observed surface features and inferred underground geometry in separate layers. This makes the map useful without suggesting that uncertain areas have been directly seen.
- Plot the pit rim and visible features. Trace the opening, visible overhangs, wall sections, and any floor features in the image data. Record image coverage and illumination conditions so readers can see where the view is incomplete.
- Add surface topography. Use stereo-derived relief and LOLA elevation or slope data to map the terrain around the pit. Label these as surface measurements.
- Add thermal observations. Show thermal context as its own layer, with the instrument and relevant conditions identified. Do not draw a cave boundary from temperature patterns alone.
- Mark radar-supported extensions separately. Show the evidence-supported extent as an inference, not a directly imaged passage. For Mare Tranquillitatis, the reported extension is more than 200 feet from the pit base, while the full extent is not established.
- Label interpretation and confidence. Distinguish a pit, a possible skylight, evidence for a cave, and a confirmed interior map. Leave the geometry beyond the evidence unknown rather than drawing a speculative tube as fact.
These layers provide a practical comparison framework, not a published NASA scoring standard. Candidate assessments can separately consider visible morphology, topographic relief and image coverage, radar support, thermal context, and confidence in a volcanic-tube interpretation.
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What the public data can—and cannot—show
NASA’s LRO data products provide entry points for working with lunar imagery and maps, including the Planetary Data System (PDS), QuickMap, and LROC products such as global, polar, regional, shapefile, and topographic data. Start at NASA’s LRO data products page to find those resources.
Orbital datasets complement one another: LROC images show surface morphology; stereo imagery and LOLA characterize relief; Diviner provides thermal context; and Mini-RF may provide radar evidence of a subsurface extension. No combination of these observations guarantees a complete interior survey. NASA’s published account of the Mare Tranquillitatis result identifies evidence for a cave beyond the pit, while stating that its full extent is unknown.
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The available counts are estimates tied to specific reports, not a current definitive census. NASA reported more than 200 lunar pits in 2014. In a 2022 NASA account, UCLA doctoral student Tyler Horvath said, “About 16 of the more than 200 pits are probably collapsed lava tubes.” The word “probably” is important: this is a probabilistic assessment, not confirmation that those pits open into mapped tubes.
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What would it take to map the interior?
A detailed interior map needs evidence beyond ordinary orbital surface imaging, because the lower walls and floor-level passages may be hidden from the spacecraft’s view. The orbital data can narrow down promising candidates and constrain parts of the problem, but the sources cited here do not establish a complete interior map of a lunar lava tube.
NASA describes CADRE as a flight demonstration involving a base station and three small rovers, intended to demonstrate cooperative mapping, obstacle avoidance, and ground-penetrating radar surveys. That stated purpose is not evidence that CADRE has mapped a lunar lava tube. NASA’s lunar surface technology overview describes the project’s aims.
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