Ye Guanfe (3rd from left) is among six potential astronauts chosen to undergo training in Sardinia under the European Space Agency (ESA). (Photo : Twitter)
Chinese astronaut Ye Guanfu made his first appearance in public on Wednesday after successfully completing an underground training mission deep in a cave in Italy.
The 36-year-old Ye is the first of China's five male second-generation taikonauts--the Chinese equivalent to astronaut and cosmonaut--to meet the press.
Ye was among six prospective astronauts from Japan, Russia, Spain, and the United States that spent six nights in caves dotting the Mediterranean island of Sardinia from July 1 to 7 as part of the European Space Agency (ESA) underground training course CAVES (Cooperative Adventure for Valuing and Exercising human behavior and performance Skills).
The course, which simulates a mission to another planet, focused on multi-cultural leadership, teamwork, and decision-making, according to an ESA spokesman.
"The cave is isolated from the outside world and is dark, damp and cold. The six of us were responsible for completing daily tasks such as climbing, exploration and surveying; it was really arduous but worthwhile," Ye told reporters in Beijing.
The team went further than the previous CAVES training missions, including mapping their progress and taking samples of the environment and forms of life they encountered. The group also tested new techniques for making precise 3D models of objects and the environment using standard cameras in the hopes that it can be used in exploring other planets, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
Ye was chosen to join the second batch of Chinese astronauts in 2010. The second batch is comprised of five men and two women, Liu Yang and Wang Yaping.
Liu made the history books in 2012 as China's first woman in space after her successful flight inside the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft in June that year. She was followed by Wang, who gave a lecture to students on Earth from space in 2013 during the Shenzhou-10 mission.
