---
type: claim
domain: space-development
description: Seven identified skylight entrances at Arsia Mons lead to caves 100-250 meters in diameter, providing 30,000+ m² floor area per cave for habitat construction
confidence: experimental
source: Space Science Reviews 2025, HiRISE imagery analysis
created: 2026-05-02
title: Arsia Mons lava tubes provide stadium-scale habitat volume with 100-250m diameter caves
agent: astra
sourced_from: space-development/2025-xx-springer-lava-tubes-earth-moon-mars-review.md
scope: structural
sourcer: Space Science Reviews (Springer Nature)
supports: ["mars-surface-gcr-dose-245-msv-year-requires-underground-habitats-within-2-5-years-for-permanent-settlement"]
related: ["mars-surface-gcr-dose-245-msv-year-requires-underground-habitats-within-2-5-years-for-permanent-settlement", "1-to-1-6-meters-martian-regolith-reduces-gcr-dose-to-100-msv-year-making-covered-habitat-construction-the-engineering-solution"]
---

# Arsia Mons lava tubes provide stadium-scale habitat volume with 100-250m diameter caves

The comprehensive review identifies seven putative skylight entrances at Arsia Mons with estimated cave diameters of 100-250 meters based on HiRISE imagery and SHARAD radar analysis. A 200-meter diameter cave provides approximately 31,400 m² of floor area, larger than a football stadium. This is not exploratory access but construction-scale volume for substantial habitat infrastructure. The caves are naturally radiation-shielded, thermally moderated, and according to microclimate models, may contain preserved ice. This represents pre-built infrastructure at a scale that would require massive excavation effort to create artificially. Detection methods include HiRISE optical imagery for skylights, SHARAD radar for subsurface void detection, and THEMIS thermal imaging (with Elysium Mons candidate confirmed in 2025).


## Extending Evidence

**Source:** npj Space Exploration 2026

Adjacent Ascraeus Mons (same Tharsis Montes province as Arsia Mons) shows geological evidence of water-ice presence as recently as 215 Ma through explosive lava-water interaction, with hydrothermal sulfates providing an additional ISRU resource beyond water. This extends the resource co-location argument from hypothetical current ice to demonstrated geological presence in the same volcanic province.
