Space & Astronomy

NASA to send spacecraft to investigate mysterious domes on the Moon

By T.K. Randall
February 7, 2025 ·  2 comments

Some of the Moon's mystery domes. Image Credit: NASA / GSFC / Arizona State University Over the years there have been a number of controversial claims concerning anomalous features on the lunar surface and while most of these have turned out to be little more than pareidolia, the Gruithuisen Domes are very much the real deal.

Originally discovered in the 19th century by Franz von Gruithuisen, these perplexing surface features have been described by scientists as "one of the most enigmatic locations on the Moon."

While the domes are more likely to be naturally occurring geological phenomena as oppose to anything built by extraterrestrials, their exact nature and origins continue to remain an enigma.

Part of the reason the domes are so mysterious is that they appear to be a form of volcano that shouldn't technically exist at all on the Moon due to the lack of certain resources.

"On Earth, silicic volcanoes typically form in the presence of two ingredients - water and plate tectonics," the mission statement reads."But without these key ingredients on the Moon, scientists are left to wonder: How did the Gruithuisen Domes form?"

Now in a renewed bid to solve the mystery once and for all, NASA will be launching a spacecraft - Blue Ghost Mission 3 - which will consist of an orbiter, a lander and a rover.

It is currently scheduled to launch in 2028.

"We are beginning to have actual hardware and are building our instruments, and now we know how we will get them deployed on the lunar surface and what our rover will look like," said Jessica Sunshine, a professor of astronomy and geology at the University of Maryland.

"What started as a concept and then figures in a proposal is now amazingly really happening."

"While the project has a lot of work to do, particularly as we integrate with Firefly, this marks a new exciting phase that gets us tantalizingly close to going from paper to the Moon."

Source: The Debrief | Comments (2)

Tags: Domes, Moon