As we move off Planet Earth and build settlements on the Moon, Mars and beyond, we are likely to first live in cave systems reminiscent of those that sheltered our earliest ancestors.
From Cave Man to Cave Martian describes ongoing research efforts to explore caves, pits, tunnels, lava tubes, skylights and the technologies that have been developed around them that one day may lead to lunar and Martian long-term habitation. Emphasis is placed on the operational aspects of working and living in such environments. Just how does the first crew find the right cave and prepare it for habitation? What are the dangers for EVA astronauts poking around such holes? What kinds of robots, tools, and equipment do they need? How might they clear the rubble and pressurize the space?  Although we may not require protection from terrestrial predators, we certainly need protection from the hostile and potentially deadly environment of space. This book explains the challenges associated with such projects–no water, no breathable air, or pressure, large temperature swings and dust storms, and radiation and micrometeorites- in constructing a viable settlement.  There are many lessons to be learned closer to home, from ongoing cave exploration and research on Earth, called speleology. This book thus examines how caves have been used by humans over the entirety of our species’ known history and what we have learned about them. It describes various types of cave dwellings, including those that break records such as the deepest, the longest and the largest cave systems.

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