Clockwise from top: ESA’s Matthias Maurer, Lina Tomelleri, Giorgio Tomelleri, Anna Maria Fioretti from the Institute of Geosciences and Earth Resources (IGG), an institute of National Research Council of Italy, and ESA astronauts Pedro Duque and Luca Parmitano.
The group are posing with meteorites during the Pangaea course that is teaching astronauts how to identify interesting rock samples, as well as assess the most likely places to find traces of life on other planets.
The group are now in Bressanone, Italy, learning the theory of how planets formed, followed by field trips to apply their knowledge.
The course is organised together with the Centre of Studies and Activities for Space at the University of Padova, Italy.
Follow the course on Twitter via @ESA_CAVES or with hashtag #Pangaea, on Flickr and on the blog.
The second part of the course will start in October on Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, Spain.