Astronauts Heading Deep Underground for Spaceflight Training‏

[rhychydwr1]

An international team of astronauts will go underground this week, using a Mediterranean cave system to help them prepare for life hundreds of miles above Earth's surface.

The six astronauts, who represent five different space agencies, will descend Friday (Sept. 7) into the caves of Sardinia, off the west coast of Italy. They'll stay underground for six days during the 2012 run of the European Space Agency-led CAVES project.

Full story:

http://www.speleogenesis.info/news/?id=217

 

[robjones]

"Moving in a cave is similar to a spacewalk, ESA officials say; it requires safety tethering and 3D orientation, with no-touch areas and dangerous, off-limits zones"

:-\