China's astronauts have successfully completed a special training course in caves on Earth as part of preparations for planned manned flights to the Moon. The training was aimed at simulating the difficult conditions that may be encountered during future lunar missions.
The training was held in a mountainous area of Chongqing Municipality in the southwest of the country. 28 astronauts participated in the training program. They were divided into four groups, and each group spent six days and five nights in the cold and humid underground environment.
Developed by the China Cosmonaut Training and Research Center, the program is considered the first of its kind in the country. The training is similar to the CAVES (Cooperative Adventure for Valuing and Exercising human behavior and performance Skills) program used by the European Space Agency. In addition to the underground training, the astronauts also underwent two days of jungle training to improve their survival and teamwork skills in extreme conditions.
The completion of the training program was officially announced on January 5, the 28th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese astronaut corps.
