For decades, scientists have suspected the existence of underground caves on the Moon, similar to those on Earth. Conjectures about the presence of pits leading to caves were made based on images taken by NASA’s lunar orbiters, which mapped the lunar surface before the Apollo missions. The presence of such a pit was confirmed in 2009 in images taken by the Kaguya orbiter of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and since then, numerous similar pits have been discovered across the Moon thanks to images and thermal measurements of the surface taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). These lava-formed caves would provide both general shelter and protection from the extreme temperatures and radiation typical of the lunar surface.