The CAVES 2013 crew are underground for their extended exploration of the cave system. Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen describes their mission and talks about the science they are conducting in the Sa Grutta cave.

CAVES, ESA's unique training programme for astronauts, takes place over a couple of weeks in Sardinia's Supramonte. Six astronauts spend two weeks deep in caves, in the dark and cold. They are separated from the outside world, doing scientific research and daily tasks together, as a group, just like in space. Moving in the cave system is also comparable to spacewalking with the use of harnesses and safety devices.

Read more about CAVES on our dedicated website (esa.int/caves) and follow this year's CAVES campaign in the new blog (blogs.esa.int/CAVES2013)