Chinese astronauts hone extreme cave survival skills

by Riko Seibo
Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Jan 06, 2026

Twenty-eight astronauts and trainees have completed China's first cave-survival training program, a nearly monthlong exercise run by the Astronaut Center of China in Chongqing's Wulong district.

The course included more than 10 core activities such as environmental monitoring, cave mapping, simulated communication with ground control, and a series of psychological and behavioral drills in confined conditions.

Participants were split into four teams, each living for six days and five nights in a natural cave where temperatures averaged 8 C and humidity reached 99 percent.

During the deployment, crews carried out cave exploration, scientific investigations, resource management, and daily maintenance tasks while moving through narrow passages, climbing and rappelling cliffs, and coping with prolonged cold and damp conditions.

They also confronted psychological stressors, including darkness, sensory deprivation, uncertain risks, and isolation, which tested their ability to maintain performance over extended periods.

Wu Bin, a project leader at the Astronaut Center of China, said the training aimed to enhance the astronauts' risk response capabilities, self-reliance, teamwork, emergency decision-making, on-site investigation skills, physical endurance, and psychological resilience in extreme environments.

"It also served as a comprehensive assessment of the astronauts' overall operational readiness," he added.

Jiang Yuan, an astronaut instructor at the center, stressed that psychological resilience is a key requirement for space missions.

"Caves are typical examples of extreme confinement and isolation, with core psychological challenges including sensory deprivation, uncertain risks and limited social interaction. Cave training provides valuable scientific insights into studying and supporting astronauts' mental health under extreme conditions," she said.

Astronaut Ye Guangfu, who took part in a weeklong underground training exercise organized by the European Space Agency in Italy in 2016, said the Wulong cave-survival mission helped strengthen astronauts' ability to cope with harsh environments and will support future long-duration space station operations and crewed lunar exploration.

After the Wulong exercise, astronaut Zhu Yangzhu said the drill reproduced aspects of the loneliness and unknowns associated with deep-space exploration and pushed participants' physical and mental limits.

"It deepened our understanding of teamwork and further strengthened our emergency response capabilities and psychological resilience, providing valuable experience for future missions," he added.

The Astronaut Center of China plans to continue similar high-intensity training for new recruits and astronauts who have not yet participated, in order to further build their capacity to adapt to extreme environments and complete assigned tasks.

Spaceflight technology specialist and author Pang Zhihao said astronauts must undergo demanding survival training to prepare for emergencies.

"Spaceflights sometimes involve many unpredictable factors, so crew members must be well prepared for any kind of emergency during their mission. For example, they should know how to survive in tough terrain such as deserts and mountains, in case their return capsule lands in these places, and find a way out," he said.

Astronauts, Pang noted, need to learn and refine skills for moving through unfamiliar terrain, choosing or building shelters, obtaining and processing food and water, and making contact with search-and-rescue forces, among other survival techniques.