Canada

Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques emerges from water underground in a cave in Sardinia, Italy, on Monday, September 3, 2012.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - European Space Agency

Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques is spending almost one week completely cut off from the outside world living in a foreign and dangerous environment.

And he'll be running into all sorts of creepy crawlies during a mission which will isolate him from the rest of the world.

No, it's not a trip to some strange unexplored planet.

Where is this dangerous, hostile environment? In Italy. More precisely in the picturesque island of Sardinia, best known for its turquoise waters, ruby-coloured wines and timeless fishing villages.

But Saint-Jacques won't be visiting the conventional way.

He and five other international astronauts are living and working underground for six days in the island's caves, off the west coast of Italy.

The 42-year-old rookie is the first Canadian astronaut to take part in the European Space Agency's CAVES program. CAVES is the acronym for Cooperative Adventure for Valuing and Exercising human behaviour and performance Skills.

Saint-Jacques says the underground experience is a lot like life aboard the International Space Station.

He and his colleagues have to work in confined spaces, with minimal privacy. They will face technological challenges and will have limited supplies for hygiene and comfort, just like in space.

"It's an exercise in teamwork, in a foreign, exotic and essentially dangerous environment," he said in an interview just hours before he headed underground.

"Six of us, a Canadian, two Americans, a Dane, a Russian and a Japanese astronaut, are spending six days in an unexplored, unmapped cave here in Sardinia."

The aim of the CAVES program is to prepare astronauts to work effectively and safely as a team — one that comprises members from different cultures, who must co-operate with each other to solve problems in uncharted areas.

Saint-Jacques says he and his team will be doing scientific exploration as well as mapping, and taking geological and biological samples.