Astronauts go to the ends of the Earth to prepare for the isolation and dangers of space. And for one group of Esa astronauts, that means spending days navigating dark, damp caves in Italy. Esa trainers and caving specialists recently went underground in Sardinia to set the scene for space like astronaut training later this summer, and claim clambering down to a cave is similar to a spacewalk. In space, an object can quickly float away and be lost forever. Likewise, in caving, dropped equipment can be lost forever in crevices or holes. When passing equipment, both cabers and astronauts must make sure the recipient has grasped the item before the first person let's go. Caves is an exploration mission, explained Caves Exploration Instructor Francesco Sorro, and this year will be more difficult as the astronauts venture further from Bayes Camp. For the first time the trainees will set up an outpost more than 3.1 miles 5 kilometers from Bayes Camp to spend the night. Following directions and maps drawn by caveats from previous years.