Russia will launch its biosatellite "Bion-M No. 2" from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Wednesday, August 20, at 10:13 p.m. local time (8:13 p.m. Bulgarian time), reports Qazinform. The equipment will be launched into orbit with a "Soyuz-2.1b" rocket from pad 31.
"Bion-M No. 2" is a large medical and biological laboratory in orbit, also called "Noah's Ark". It will carry 75 mice, fruit flies, plants and mushrooms, which will be kept in controlled conditions during the mission. The researchers aim to study the effects of radiation in polar orbit - about 30% higher than in low Earth orbit - on living organisms. The mission is planned for 30 days, after which the capsule is to return to Earth.
Such experiments have deep roots in Soviet cosmonautics. In 1960, the dogs Belka and Strelka became the first living creatures to successfully return from orbit after a flight on "Sputnik-5". Their flight paved the way for Yuri Gagarin's success.
"Bion-M No. 1" was launched in 2013 and also had an ambitious scientific program - mice, geckos, snails, plants and microorganisms. The mission lasted 30 days, but the results were mixed: a significant part of the mice and geckos died due to technical problems with the life support on board. Still, scientists managed to collect valuable data on the impact of microgravity and radiation on biological objects.
Now, with "Bion-M No. 2", Roscosmos is seeking to avoid the problems of the first mission and provide a more reliable environment for experiments.