Bion-M launched from Baikonur to become powerful foundation for deep space flights — scientist
Biological satellite Bion-M No. 2, launched on Wednesday, will become a powerful foundation for human exploration of deep space, said Sergey Chernyshyov, Vice President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, TASS reports.
"Today's launch is a powerful foundation for the human movement into deep space," Chernyshyov said after the successful launch.
The launch of the Soyuz-2.1b rocket took place at 8:13 p.m. Moscow time from Baikonur site No. 31 (Vostok launch complex). Bion-M is to spend 30 days in space and land on September 19 in the steppes of the Orenburg Region.
There are 75 mice on board the biosatellite, about 1,500 drosophila flies, cell cultures, plants (calendula, echinacea, fiscomistrella moss), samples of cereals, legumes and industrial crops. Fungi, lichens, cellular materials, and plant seeds grown from the seeds that flew into space on earlier research satellites were also sent into space.
The aim of the project is to study how living organisms survive flight in a high-latitude orbit, where the level of space radiation is one third higher than in the orbit of the International Space Station.
As stated previously, Russia's Bion-M No2 biosatellite to deliver mice, flies and mushrooms to space.