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Astronauts would need more than a spacesuit and a rover to explore a lunar cave. A mission would have to find a suitable opening, reach and descend into it safely, navigate dark and unstable terrain, map and study the interior, and keep the crew supplied with power, communications and life support. NASA and JPL have described relevant technologies and concepts, but the available work does not establish a complete, flight-ready system for astronauts to explore a lunar cave.
Why explore lunar caves?
Pits and possible caves could offer access to subsurface environments that differ from the exposed lunar surface. NASA reported in 2022 that more than 200 lunar pits had been identified and that about 16 were considered probable collapsed lava tubes. Those counts do not mean that every pit opens onto a cave, or that any potential cave is confirmed to be accessible or traversable.
Caves also interest researchers because they may be more thermally stable than the surface. In its 2022 report on Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter-related research, NASA gave exposed-surface extremes of about 260°F during the day and −280°F at night. A study modeled conditions in the Mare Tranquillitatis pit and found a more stable thermal environment in the pit and cave setting. That modeling is not evidence that a cave has been explored directly, is safe for people, or is ready to serve as a habitat.
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NASA’s technical report Technologies Enabling Exploration of Skylights, Lava Tubes and Caves identifies five central problems: “There are five main issues that any mission for planetary cave exploration must address: access to the cave, in-cave mobility, collection and processing of data for modeling and other scientific objectives, power, and communication.” Those challenges are connected: a vehicle that can descend is not useful if it cannot navigate back, return data, or keep its systems running.
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1. Find and assess a safe entrance
Before sending people down, a mission would need to locate and characterize an opening, assess its rim and nearby terrain, and choose a safe landing or staging area. It would also need evidence that the opening leads to a void that can be investigated. NASA’s Spelunker concept illustrates one possible approach: land at a skylight rim and lower a tethered hub. Spelunker is a mission concept, not a record of an operational lunar cave mission.
2. Descend and move through uncertain terrain
A cave may contain steep slopes, loose rubble, drops and areas with no natural light. A crewed system would need controlled access and a way to handle obstacles or retreat if the route becomes unsafe. Robots face the same terrain problem in a different form: NASA research has considered autonomous robots combining driving and hopping, while JPL’s NeBula work addresses autonomous capabilities and long-range traversability. Neither establishes a selected rover design for a crewed cave expedition.
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3. Map the interior and collect science data
Explorers would need active sensing, onboard computing and data processing to build models of the terrain and cave geometry, identify hazards and collect scientific observations. NASA’s cave report specifically identifies subsurface sensing and modeling as mission needs. A final astronaut sensor kit or science payload is not specified in the sources described here, and sensing farther into a large tube could increase power demands.
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4. Keep power and communications working
Lights, sensors, computers, radios and mobile platforms all consume energy. NASA identifies reliable power generation and storage as priorities for lunar surface infrastructure, and its cave report treats power as a core cave-mission challenge. The sources do not prescribe a power architecture or endurance target for a crewed cave mission.
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Rock and terrain can obstruct a direct radio path to surface or orbital assets. NASA’s Spelunker concept uses a tethered hub for power and communications, while NASA is developing communications and navigation architectures for lunar surface and orbital systems. Tethers and relays are design approaches, not evidence of an operational underground lunar network.
How could robots support astronauts?
Robots could scout dangerous or inaccessible areas before people enter, map routes, inspect hazards and assist during exploration. Depending on the mission design, they might operate autonomously or work alongside astronauts. JPL’s NeBula program describes capabilities intended for astronaut-facing human-robot interaction and exploration of dangerous areas. This is relevant technology development, not proof that a particular robot has explored a lunar cave.
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Robotic scouting could reduce the amount of risk transferred to the crew, but it would not remove the need for reliable mapping, communications, power and recovery plans. A mission concept would need to decide how much control rests with operators, how much the robot can do autonomously, and what happens if it loses contact or cannot return.
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What would astronauts need to wear and carry?
NASA’s EVA and Human Surface Mobility program covers lunar spacewalk and surface-mobility development, providing relevant foundations. A cave expedition would also have to address crew mobility in confined or sloped terrain, lighting, communications, thermal management, dust protection and life support. These are requirements to solve; the reviewed sources do not establish a cave-rated spacesuit, a crewed cave rover or a detailed cave life-support configuration.
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The equipment choices would depend on the access and mobility plan. For example, the mission team would have to weigh a rim-based staging point and tethered descent against other descent approaches; compare wheeled, hopping or hybrid mobility; and determine whether communication is direct, tethered or relayed. The available material does not provide a quantitative trade study or select a crewed architecture.
What is established—and what remains unresolved?
NASA and JPL materials identify the technology areas and mission problems that must be addressed, from access and mobility to data, power and communications. They also describe concepts and capabilities that could inform future work. They do not establish a complete astronaut cave-exploration system or an operational human mission to a lunar cave.
Quick Recap
- Established as mission needs: safe access, in-cave mobility, science data and modeling, power, and communications.
- Relevant concepts and development: NASA’s Spelunker concept, NASA research into autonomous hybrid driving-and-hopping robots, JPL’s NeBula capabilities, and NASA’s lunar EVA, mobility, communications and surface-infrastructure work.
- Not specified as flight-ready cave hardware: a final crewed descent system, cave rover, astronaut sensor kit, power architecture, communications network or cave-rated suit and life-support configuration.
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