Russia retrieves mice, other animals from space
Source: AFP |
May 20, 2013, Monday
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A RUSSIAN capsule filled with 45 mice and 15 newts along with other small animals returned from a month's mission in orbit yesterday with data scientists hope will pave the way for a manned flight to Mars.
Russian Mission Control said the Bion-M craft landed softly with the help of a special parachute system in the Orenburg Region about 1,200 kilometers southeast of Moscow.
The capsule was also carrying snails and gerbils as well as some plants and microflora. Rossiya state television said not all the animals survived but provided no other details.
"This is the first time that animals have been put in space on their own for so long," said Vladimir Sychov of the Russian Academy of Sciences' institute of medical and biological research.
The TsSKB-Progress space research centre's department head Valery Abrashkin said on the day the mission took off in April that the study was aimed at determining how bodies adapt to weightlessness "so that our organisms survive extended flights."
The space mission has been widely praised by Russian state media as a unique experiment that no other country has yet pulled off.
France's Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) space centre said 15 of the 45 mice came from a French research lab that is cooperating with the study.
CNES life science department head Guillemette Gauquelin-Koch said the project took "a further decisive step in human adaptation to weightlessness."
Another flight with other animals would probably take place next year, she said, adding "They might be microorganisms."
A field research lab was deployed near to where the capsule landed to quickly test the animals' response to their journey and return to Earth.
Officials said the small menagerie composed of dozens of individual cages would now be flown to Moscow for more tests.
Scientists said the animals were needed because they were subject to experiments that are impossible to conduct on the humans who are currently operating the International Space Station.
Russian Mission Control said the Bion-M craft landed softly with the help of a special parachute system in the Orenburg Region about 1,200 kilometers southeast of Moscow.
The capsule was also carrying snails and gerbils as well as some plants and microflora. Rossiya state television said not all the animals survived but provided no other details.
"This is the first time that animals have been put in space on their own for so long," said Vladimir Sychov of the Russian Academy of Sciences' institute of medical and biological research.
The TsSKB-Progress space research centre's department head Valery Abrashkin said on the day the mission took off in April that the study was aimed at determining how bodies adapt to weightlessness "so that our organisms survive extended flights."
The space mission has been widely praised by Russian state media as a unique experiment that no other country has yet pulled off.
France's Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) space centre said 15 of the 45 mice came from a French research lab that is cooperating with the study.
CNES life science department head Guillemette Gauquelin-Koch said the project took "a further decisive step in human adaptation to weightlessness."
Another flight with other animals would probably take place next year, she said, adding "They might be microorganisms."
A field research lab was deployed near to where the capsule landed to quickly test the animals' response to their journey and return to Earth.
Officials said the small menagerie composed of dozens of individual cages would now be flown to Moscow for more tests.
Scientists said the animals were needed because they were subject to experiments that are impossible to conduct on the humans who are currently operating the International Space Station.
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