"This is aimed at simulating a future, hypothetical landing mission on the moon or Mars and they use a lot of robots which are there to transport and install different instruments", said Boris Behncke, a volcanologist from the National Vulcanology Institute in Catania, near Mount Etna.

A river of red-hot lava was caught flowing out from Mount Etna in breathtaking new drone footage. Smoking magma can be see rolling down the snow-topped mountainside as the drone glides in and out of the red-hot flow. The latest outpouring comes just weeks after an eruption forced a BBC reporter and a scientist to flee for their lives. Etna, at 3,330 metres (10,926 feet), is the highest volcano in mainland Europe. The volcano, one of the most active in the world, has been largely dormant for the last two years.