Astronauts Explore Caves in Mock Space Mission (Photos)
Ascending to the Camp Site
The cavenauts climb towards their underground camp site which will be their home for the next six days. This photo was taken on September 9, 2012.
Discovering Wonderland
CAVES, an abbreviation of Cooperative Adventure for Valuing and Exercising human behaviour and performance Skills, prepares astronauts to work safely and effectively and solve problems as a multicultural team while exploring uncharted areas using space procedures. This photo was taken on September 9, 2012.
Cavenauts Watching an Exercise
The cavenauts watch an exercise. From left: Mike Fincke, Drew Feustel, Soichi Noguchi, Nikolai Tikhonov, Andreas Mogensen and David Saint-Jacques. This photo was taken on September 6, 2012.
Food Tasting
If you are going to spend six days underground in Sardinian caves, it is best to be well prepared. Choosing the right food to keep energy and morale levels high is very important. This photo was taken on September 4, 2012.
Swinging Exercise
Astronauts practice their cave diving techniques. This photo was taken on September 6, 2012.
Eccentric Speleothem
The cavenauts sit by a speleothem, a mineral deposit that forms in a cave. This photo was taken on September 5, 2012.
Just Add Water
ESA astronaut food on display during a CAVES 2012 tasting session. This photo was taken on September 4, 2012.
Get the Space.com Newsletter
Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!
All Astronauts With Their Complete Team
The cavenauts team. This photo was taken on September 3, 2012.
More Ghosts
Cave photography is both a science and an art! Usually a lens exposure of around 30 seconds is used to give enough time for multiple flashes to light up different areas of the cave in order to get the correct illumination. It doesn't have to be a flash, sometime helmet lights or flashlights can be used but then the white balance has to be adjusted for the different frequencies of 'white' light that is used. This photo was taken on September 4, 2012.
Macro Photograph of Insect
Cavenauts study the biolgy with a macro photograph of an insect. This photo was taken on June 5, 2009.
Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.
Space.com is the premier source of space exploration, innovation and astronomy news, chronicling (and celebrating) humanity's ongoing expansion across the final frontier. Originally founded in 1999, Space.com is, and always has been, the passion of writers and editors who are space fans and also trained journalists. Our current news team consists of Editor-in-Chief Tariq Malik; Editor Hanneke Weitering, Senior Space Writer Mike Wall; Senior Writer Meghan Bartels; Senior Writer Chelsea Gohd, Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova and Staff Writer Alexander Cox, focusing on e-commerce. Senior Producer Steve Spaleta oversees our space videos, with Diana Whitcroft as our Social Media Editor.