Return to Earth

Underground day 6, last day.

The cavenauts pack their bags and tents and start the six-hour climb back to Earth's surface.
So ends the CAVES 2012. All that remains for the astronauts is to write their mission reports.

An international crew of six astronauts trained on a caving adventure designed to prepare them for spaceflight. There are many similarities to spaceflight such as a lack of day--night cycle, sensory deprivation, minimal hygiene and the necessity to work as a team and solve problems together.

After a week of training they entered the caves to spend six days living and working underground.

Copyrights: ESA­­­­--V. Crobu & S. Sechi