The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
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Skylight opening on a huge lava tube in the Marius Hills region on the lunar near side.
The Moon's surface is covered by millions of craters, but it also hosts hundreds of very steep-walled holes known as pits. Like doorways to the underworld, photos of some pits clearly show a cavern beneath the Moon's surface, suggesting that they are ‘skylights’ into extensive lava tubes that can be as wide as New York's Central Park, and could extend for hundreds of kilometres. These tubes are thought to have formed during lava flows billions of years ago, when the Moon was still geologically active.