Russian biosatellite carrying 1,500 animals lands back on Earth

The satellite mission carried more than 1,500 animals into space is the recent Russian biological research satellite, likely Bion-M No.2. 

The satellite is a continuation of the Soviet Bion program and it has landed back on Earth.

It was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on August 20 for a month-long journey into orbit.

However, the capsule crashed to earth on September 19 in the steppes of the Orenburg region of Russia.

Its biblical nickname comes from the staggering number of living creatures it held on to board.

It has been observed that 75 mice and more than 1,500 flies were among the space “Ark’s” many passengers.

The specimens on board were exposed to higher levels of cosmic radiation.

Meanwhile, the craft’s landing doesn't appear to be trouble-free, with images from the crash site suggesting a small fire.

Concerning the situation, helicopters rushed to the scene to recover the living specimens immediately so that further examinations could begin.

According to Space.com, specialists came to examined the flies' motor activity to see if there were any nervous systems problems.

The experiment aimed to examine how different life forms react to the prolonged exposure to space.

In order to further analyze the specimens, the specimens were set to return to the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences laboratories at around midnight on September 20.

The potential gadgets were deployed to examine the adverse effects of cosmic radiation and weightlessness.

Further, various sections of the programme will study aspects of biology and space travel to further elucidate our understanding of the universe.

This experiment, dubbed “Meteorite”, was carried out specifically as the capsule came back to Earth.

The conclusions drawn from Russia’s Bion-M No 2 satellite mission are not final; rather, the mission focused on the theory that life on Earth may come from outer space, and scientific data will be analyzed in the coming months.