Parts of the moon have stable temperatures fit for humans, researchers find

Would you like to live on the moon someday? The chances have gotten a little bit better.

According to new research from planetary scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles, the moon has pits and caves where the temperature stays at 63 degrees.

Researchers say that the stability of the moon's surface could change the future of lunar exploration.

Protection from harmful elements could be offered by the shadowed areas.

It takes a day or night on the moon to be equivalent to two weeks on Earth.

Some pits are likely collapsed lava tubes

According to Tyler Horvath, a UCLA PhD student and head of the research, about 16 of the over 200 pits most likely came from collapsed lava tubes.

The overhangs inside the lunar pits could be the reason for the stable temperature.

Paul Hayne is a professor at the University of Colorado Boulder.

The researchers focused on the Mare Tranquillitatis, an area about the size of a football field, using images from NASA's Diviner lunar Radiometer Experiment. The thermal properties of the rock and lunar dust were studied.

When we live on the moon, we might return to the caves we evolved in.

Growing food and providing enough oxygen are some of the challenges that need to be overcome to establish a long term human residence on the moon. There are no plans for a base camp or habitations at this time.