WOW

Emerging from Sa Grutta cave with Paxi. Credits: ESA, L.Bessone

This simple yet powerful little word perfectly describes what I have been feeling fairly constantly since I joined the CAVES team only a few months ago. The preparation of this very special space analogue course, that brings astronauts into the dark underground realms of Earth for a cooperative adventure, is such a continuous surprise, challenge and source of excitement to be almost overwhelming sometimes. Hence my need to calm down a little bit in case I suddenly start to jump and bounce here and there. Actually it couldn’t be any different, as CAVES represents a perfect – and somewhat incredible – mix of what I personally and professionally like the most.

Alessandro crawling inside Tiscali cave. Credit: ESA, A.Romeo

I have been fascinated by Space since I was just two years old, when I wanted to bring down the Moon with a broom, and by Human Space Exploration since I watched the good old Apollo 13 at the age of nine. Those feelings have never really left me and despite the fact that I am now an Engineer – Aerospace, of course… – I still pour rivers of tears while watching any video about our beloved natural satellite, space vehicle launches or Earth as seen from space. It is then not hard to guess how I feel having the chance to support the preparation of a real mission for astronauts together with true explorers that have literally shed light on so many remote and previously unknown places in all corners of the globe. If you still have any doubt about CAVES being an authentic discovery endeavour, check out www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Caves/CAVES_timeline and www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Caves/Science_and_technology) –

In front of the Hercules balloon launching vehicle at ESRANGE Space Center Credit: ESA, L.Savioli

There are, of course, many other good reasons to be enthusiastic about CAVES. One is the variety of subjects that you have to deal with in preparation for such a complex mission and the opportunity to acquire, day by day, very diverse knowledge and skills. As an all-around Support Engineer, there is a multitude of activities to perform, such as supporting the creation of the mission procedures, defining the structure and maintaining the equipment inventory, selecting the most appropriate tech equipment, providing help and guidelines for the development of Operational Tools that will be used by astronauts and much more. To me, all these tasks are interesting, challenging and eventually rewarding, as you can clearly see the outcome of your efforts when all the pieces come together. Furthermore, such a dynamic and varied role allows me to put into practice and effectively use most of what I have learnt and acquired throughout the years. At the beginning of this CAVES adventure I had several very diverse “tools” in my backpack in addition to the engineering knowledge, such as a decent IT background, some teaching and training experience, some design and analysis skills and more than a year of activity as a system engineer for an experiment flown aboard a stratospheric balloon, called ARCADE. All of them are now proving to be useful if not absolutely necessary.

With ESA mentor Koen De Beule and ARCADE at ESRANGE Space Centre. Credit: ESA.

Last, but not least, comes the experience itself. Both the CAVES course and dry-run takes place in the enchanting, wild environment of the Lanaitto Valley, a strip of land surrounded by rocky, sharp mountains in Sardinia. For someone who has never lived fully immersed in nature, it is really hard to describe how it feels staying in such a place and waking up in a refuge being just you, your teammates, a bunch of mules and goats and nobody else for many kilometres. The same is said for wearing the CAVESnaut suit and entering a non-touristic cave for the very first time – the Tiscali chasm in my case – squeezing through narrow passages, walking in giant natural rooms and crawling in the dirt. In this case you experience a mix of different emotions: the excitement of discovering an unknown environment, the enchantment of finding an unexpectedly beautiful speleothem on your way, the confusion caused by the difficulties in orienting yourself inside the cave or even the surprise of discovering a small speleomantes under a rock. Among these, what I didn’t expect was the sensation of protection provided by the cave. We were clearly in a very controlled and safe environment, still I couldn’t believe that I felt like I was in an immense, comfortable natural shelter rather than in an underground trap. Needless to say, I can’t wait to embark with the team in another trip below the surface of the Earth.

Alessandro making a technical presentation for Luca Parmitano. Credit: ESA

The bottom line is that there is a lot of “WOW” yet to come and so much more to say and discover about CAVES that a common ending like “That’s all, Folks!” couldn’t be further from the truth. This is also why I am sure that this overall feeling of novelty, engagement and challenge will not fade anytime soon, making this experience a long and wonderful one. But now, after a lot of words, it is time to roll up our sleeves!

Next big step: the upcoming CAVES in September!

Alessandro Boesso