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On the surface, it reads like a paradox: a space agency training its astronauts by sending them as far away from space as possible. 

But a six-day expedition into an Italian cave, says the European Space Agency, may actually be an ideal stepping-stone to cosmic travel. 

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The trails, lakes and sprawling darkness of the Sa Grutta cave system — captured in photos this month by the ESA’s latest band of underground trainees — are intended, in a sense, to effectively mimic the conditions of space.  At the very least, they pose a similar challenge: forcing the “cavenauts” to venture deep into unknown territory. 

“Cavers are the most productive geographic explorers of our contemporary world, finding kilometres of new passages in which no human has ever set foot,” ESA cave scientist Jo de Waele wrote in a July 2 blog post, on the first day of the expedition. 

The ESA’s Sa Grutta expedition runs annually, teaming astronauts from national agencies around the world.  Canada’s two newest astronauts have both taken part in past missions, including David Saint-Jacques, a 2012 ESA trainee who will rocket into space in November 2018.