WASHINGTON –
A fresh examination of radar data for Venus obtained by NASA’s Magellan spacecraft in the 1990s indicates the presence of a large underground cavity created by a lava flow, the first subsurface feature ever detected on Earth’s planetary neighbor.
Researchers said the radar data was consistent with a geological feature called a lava tube that is found in certain volcanic locations on Earth. Lava tubes also exist on the moon and are thought to be present on Mars.
Venus has carefully guarded its secrets, with its surface shrouded by thick noxious clouds. But radar can peer through these clouds.