While it appears that establishing a manned outpost on Mars is still a thing of the who-knows-how-distant future, a team of researchers has been able to determine where exactly humans may find shelter on the Red Planet, Live Science reports.
As the media outlet points out, while the surface of Mars is arid and inhospitable, constantly bombarded by solar radiation, the lava tubes located in a meteor impact basin known as Hellas Planitia may provide a much-needed refuge for explorers who might have to spend years on the planet.
In order to test their hypothesis, the team visited lava tubes located in the American Southwest, discovering a "significant radiation-shielding effect" offered by such geological features.
"The candidate lava tubes, moreover, can serve as important locations for direct observation and study of Martian geology and geomorphology," the researchers concluded, "as well as potentially uncovering any evidence for the development of microbial life early in the natural history of Mars".