NASA selects a PSI-led team to sound for a lava tube beyond the Marius Hills pit
NASA picked a Planetary Science Institute team to test whether the Moon's Marius Hills pit opens into a lava tube, with a commercial lander and rover. PSI says such a cave could one day shelter astronauts from radiation and extreme temperature swings.
The Scientist · Science desk
What happened
- The Marius Hills pit is a large hole in one of the Moon's most volcanically diverse regions and may open into spaces formed by ancient volcanism.
- Than Putzig, an associate director and senior scientist at PSI, leads the project, called the Geophysical Instruments for Marius Lunar pit Investigation, or GIMLI.
- Honeybee Robotics, a Blue Origin company, is building the seismic system, gravimeter and cameras, integrating them, and will run surface operations with PSI.
- The Norwegian Space Agency is a partner in the work and is supplying the ground-penetrating radar.
Why it matters
- What's now possible capability Seismic, radar and gravity readings taken at the pit can confirm a void and estimate its extent, a size figure that any argument for sheltering crews there would have to start from.
- Who has to decide decision NASA has backed a payload whose scientific return survives a null result, because the same subsurface data bear on how the pit formed.
- What it sets up precedent A working active-source survey at Marius Hills would give later lunar surface missions a tested way to image the ground beneath a landing site.
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The case for a cave at Marius Hills rests so far on observations from lunar orbit. PSI calls them "compelling evidence" that caves and lava tubes may exist beneath the Moon's surface [8]. That evidence establishes a possibility. Whether a potentially large void actually extends beyond the pit's opening is the question NASA selected GIMLI to answer [1]. "Than and his team are taking a scientific question we've been studying from orbit and have developed a way to investigate it directly on the moon," said Amanda Hendrix, PSI's director and CEO [7].
The survey looks underground three ways [16]. One is an active-source seismic system, in which the team generates the seismic signal on purpose. The others are ground-penetrating radar and a gravimeter, while cameras image the surface and the pit walls [12]. The aim is to find a void extending from the pit and, if one exists, to help determine its size [12]. Putzig said the methods together "will allow us to get a much better understanding of subsurface properties" [11].
He also spoke of "the anticipated detection of a lava tube extending away from the Marius Hills pit" [17].
The seismic method has a history on the Moon. "It's long been a desire of mine to reintroduce intentional active-source seismic methods to planetary science, as it has essentially not been done since the Apollo astronauts conducted the first seismic surveys on the moon," Putzig said [10].
If no cave turns up, measurements of the surrounding subsurface could still help explain how the pit formed and the geology and volcanic history of the site [13]. The pit walls expose layers of regolith and lava flows that are usually hidden underground. The team will study them for how lava traveled and whether long periods separated eruptions [14]. A confirmed tube would add a comparison with Earth. "Lava tubes are a common feature of basaltic volcanism on Earth, so identifying them on the moon means we could use knowledge of such terrestrial caves to better understand lunar history," said Gareth Morgan, a PSI senior scientist and the program's deputy principal investigator [15].
Even a clean detection would not show whether the cave could make a workable shelter. PSI's wording is that such a cave "may one day" provide a safe haven [2]. The announcement did not disclose what size of void would qualify, the lander provider, a launch date or a cost [3].
What to watch
- NASA naming the CLPS provider and a delivery date for the lander and rover carrying GIMLI.
- First results from the seismic, radar and gravity survey on whether a void extends from the pit, and how large it is.
- Whether the team states what void size would make a cave at Marius Hills useful as crew shelter.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence60
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+30
- Incentives70
- Confidence65
Perspective Coverage
3 publishers- Builder
- Builder 30%
- Operator
- Operator 57%
- Investor
- Investor 13%
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
NASA has selected a Planetary Science Institute-led proposal to investigate whether a potentially large underground cave extends beyond the opening of a lunar pit.
- [2]
Such a cave may one day provide a safe haven for astronauts to escape the radiation and extreme temperature swings present at the lunar surface.
- [3]
The equipment and instrumentation will be carried on a lander and rover provided through NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative.
- [4]
The project, Geophysical Instruments for Marius Lunar pit Investigation (GIMLI), is led by PSI associate director and senior scientist Than Putzig.
- [5]
Honeybee Robotics, a Blue Origin company, is providing project management, building the active-source seismic system, gravimeter and cameras, integrating all instruments onto the lander and rover, and will lead surface operations together with PSI.
- [6]
The work is carried out in partnership with the Norwegian Space Agency, which is providing the ground-penetrating radar.
- [7]
"Than and his team are taking a scientific question we've been studying from orbit and have developed a way to investigate it directly on the moon."
- [8]
Observations from lunar orbit have provided compelling evidence that caves and lava tubes may exist under the moon's surface.
- [9]
The Marius Hills pit is a large hole in one of the moon's most volcanically diverse regions; like other lunar pits, it may be an opening to underground spaces that may have formed during ancient volcanic activity.
- [10]
"It's long been a desire of mine to reintroduce intentional active-source seismic methods to planetary science, as it has essentially not been done since the Apollo astronauts conducted the first seismic surveys on the moon,"
- [11]
"these methods together will allow us to get a much better understanding of subsurface properties"
- [12]
GIMLI will use ground-penetrating radar, seismic sensors and a gravimeter to look beneath the surface, with cameras imaging the surface and pit walls; the instruments will search for an underground void extending from the pit and, if one exists, help determine its size.
- [13]
Even if GIMLI does not find a cave or lava tube, measurements of the surrounding subsurface could help answer how the pit formed and improve understanding of the geology and volcanic history around the site.
- [14]
The pit walls expose layers of regolith and lava flows usually hidden underground; studying them could reveal how lava traveled on the moon and whether long periods of time separated eruptions.
- [15]
"Lava tubes are a common feature of basaltic volcanism on Earth, so identifying them on the moon means we could use knowledge of such terrestrial caves to better understand lunar history."
- [16]
GIMLI combines three subsurface sensing methods: active-source seismic, ground-penetrating radar and gravity.
- [17]
"the anticipated detection of a lava tube extending away from the Marius Hills pit"
Sources
2 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- discovermagazine.comAn Odd Hole on the Moon's Surface May Lead to an Underground Cave That Could Shelter Future Astronauts
1 article · October 7, 2026
- phys.orgTeam selected for NASA program to explore potential lunar cave
1 article · October 2, 2026
- sciencedaily.comThis mysterious hole on the Moon may open into a giant cave
2 articles · October 8, 2026
Topics and entities
Topics
- Lunar bases and habitats
- Lunar lava tubes
- Planetary geophysics
Entities
- Marius Hills Pit
- Commercial Lunar Payload Services
- Norwegian Space Agency
- Geophysical Instruments for Marius Lunar pit Investigation
- Planetary Science Institute
- NASA
- Honeybee Robotics
- Blue Origin