TORONTO – Though our ancestors may have done it, living in a cave is no easy task.
But six astronauts from around the world, including Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, survived for six days deep underground in an Italian cave.
The exercise, which took place in Sardinia, Italy, was part of a European Space Agency (ESA)-led program called the Cooperative Adventure for Valuing and Exercising human behaviour and exercise skills (CAVES).
The program is designed to teach astronauts about teamwork in an environment similar to living in space.
Read: Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen heads underground
While living in a damp cave may seem the furthest you can get from living in space, in actuality, there are many similarities.
“One of the reasons it’s useful is that you’re practising teamwork in a hostile environment,” Hansen said. “There’s a lot of risk that has to be managed; you’re deep in a cave; rescue is very, very far away; you have to take care of yourselves and your team; work together; accomplish science objectives…and you don’t know what you’re going to find.”
The six-day mission united astronauts from Canada, Russia, Japan and the United States and involved various scientific tasks, including mapping the caves, searching for life and problem-solving.
During the video, astronauts share their experience and liken it to a space mission.
“I walked into a room, a massive cavern, standing on the edge and looking out over all these boulders that had fallen and it was like being on Mars,” said NASA astronaut
Jack Fischer in an ESA video.
“It’s amazing to see the beauty of the caves. I looked at this mountain that we’re in from the outside, and now I have a completely different image of it from the inside,” Hansen said. “A beautiful new perspective. And that is something that exploration gives to us.”
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