Placing bait

CAVES 2012 science coordinator Jo de Waele (left) and NASA astronaut Mike Fincke placing bait during the underground training.

A mixture of liver and rotten cheese was used to entice subterranean life to visit the area. After three to four days the astronauts returned to the site to collect animals of interest.

Molecular analysis confirms some of the life found belong to a new species of crustaceans of the Alpioniscus genus.