Japan’s Exploration of Holes and Caves on the Moon and Mars – Uzume Project
نویسندگان
چکیده
Introduction: In 2009, deep-hole structures were discovered in the Moon’s Marius Hills (Fig.1), Mare Tranquillitatis, and Mare Ingenii in the images acquired by the SELENE cameras aboard Japan’s Selenological and Engineering Explorer (SELENE, nicknamed KAGUYA). They were very similar to several pits on Mars that were discovered in 2007 and reported as possible “skylights” opened on subsurface voids or caverns such as lava tubes. The Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) aboard the US Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) later identified more pits on the Moon 7) and provided evidence that vertical walls of the three holes conclusively form roofs of gigantic subsurface voids by oblique observations.
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