Mission accomplished: cave crew returns to Earth

Mission accomplished: cave crew returns to Earth Take five astronauts and instead of sending them into space take them underground. ESA's CAVES venture prepares astronauts to work in an international team under real exploration conditions. The latest 'crew' has returned after six days in the dark. Sardinia is not only a popular Mediterranean holiday destination but also an excellent place for astronaut training. The island's interior has isolated mountains and forest areas, rugged and savage. ESA's astronauts passed their survival training there, and two of them recently returned with American, Russian and Japanese colleagues. For six days they lived and worked in the island's complex cave systems - some of them unmapped or unexplored.