Man’s dream of living and travelling through universe is a
step closer now. With Russia’s BION- M1 satellite in space with animals and
plants to study the effect of zero gravity and weightlessness .
This is one of three
BION satellites (animal-carrying space capsule) which space pioneering nation
Russia has recently send in space on 18th April. Though this is not
the first time a bio satellite is being sent in space. Russian bio satellite
programs dates back to 1966, which was resumed in 1973.
This program is not only helping Russian but also NASA who
is closely associated with these programs since 1971. They are trying to
understand the fundamentals of space biology which may carter Russia’s aim of
establishing a base on moon.
This Launch of Soyuz was also closely watched by the world,
as now it’s the only working space shuttle on earth, frequently used to reach
the ISS (International Space Station)and with the recent failures of Russian space program.
On 18th, the Bion satellites or Bion space
program, also named Bio cosmos, was launched from the Baikonur, Kazakhstan in Soyuz-2.1,
after a delay of 3 years as initially it was to be launched in 2010. The biological
research satellite is being sent to conduct experiments to make life of
astronauts easier in outer space. The satellite carried a crew of 45 mice, 8
Mongolian gerbils, 15 geckos, snails, fish and microorganisms in it. These
animals are luckier than Leila the first dog (animal) to being sent in space as
that they will return back to earth.
The satellite is scheduled to return back to earth after 30 days,
on 18th May with a help of a parachute. It’s after that scientist
will be able to study the data gathered through the experiments. These
experiments could not be carried on the international space station, because of
the sanity issues these animals may create. It’s only after the analysis of the
data, we can say about the productivity of such expensive launches.
Keep Looking …
