Bion-M 1

Launch data: Designation  39130 / 13015A Launch date  19 April 2013 - 10:00 UT Launch site  Baik, LC-31/6 Launch vehicle  Soyuz-2-1A Spacecraft type  12KSM nr. 1 Mission  Life Science Earth orbit: Perigee / Apogee   km Eccentricity   Inclination   deg Period   min

Description:

• Bion-M is the next generation of russian biological research satellites. While retaining the Vostok/Zenit-derived reentry module of the earlier Bion, the propulsion module has been replace by a Yantar type module, which provides maneuvering capabilities and longer mission support. The mission duration has been increased to up to 6 months by using solar cells for energy generation. The weight of scientific equipment has been increased by 100 kilograms.
• The recoverable satellite contains animal habitats with 45 mice, 15 geckos, eight gerbils and a number of snails, plus other investigations involving microorganisms and plants. The craft also carries an aquarium with German experiments on fish and aquatic plants.
• The mission's 45 mice passengers, living three animals per cage, will be fed with a paste-like, vitamin-enriched diet of cereals and water six times per day, according to the Institute of Biomedical Problems, a top Russian research organization based in Moscow.
  
  

  Mice in their habitat on the Bion M1 spacecraft. Credit: IBMP

  
  
• The animals will spend the 30-day mission inside enclosures and cages, and scientists devised feeding procedures to ensure the critters survive the journey.
• The pressurized compartment of the Bion M1 spacecraft will be kept at a comfortable temperature and relative humidity for the month-long flight. The mission is also designed with day and night cycles to maintain the animals' circadian rhythm.
• Scientists will use the mice to study how the animals respond to weightlessness, investigate how cells in tissues and organs change after a long-duration spaceflight, observe their susceptibility to cosmic radiation, and learn how the animals readapt to gravity after landing, according to the website of the Institute of Biomedical Problems. LI>The mission includes eight Mongolian gerbils, which are more resistant to harsh environmental conditions. Scientists want to observe how the gerbils react to microgravity and compare the findings with the response of mice.
• The Bion M1 mission is managed by Roscosmos, the Russian Federal Space Agency, but scientists from the United States, Germany, Canada, Poland, the Netherlands and other countries are participating in the experiments.

Engineers prepare the Bion spacecraft and secondary payloads for launch. Credit: Roscosmos

A view inside the Bion capsule showing animal habitats. Credit: Roscosmos

Mission details:

• The Bion-M No. 1 life sciences satelite (spacecraft 12KSM no. 1) was launched Apr 19, 2013. Bion-M consists of a Vostok-type pressurized reentry sphere and a Yantar'-type service and propulsion module. The sphere carries mice, gerbils, geckos, and snails as well as the FRAGMENTER and BIOKONT-B microorganism containers, the OMEGAHAB aquarium with fish and algae, the FITO plant containers, some microgravity materials experiments and accelerometers to measure the microgravity level.
• The Bion M1 spacecraft lifted off on a Soyuz rocket at 1000 GMT (6 a.m. EDT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, less than 20 hours after the booster rolled to the launch pad on rails.
  Soyuz rockets typically arrive at the launch pad three days before liftoff, but Russian engineers waited as long as possible to finish loading experiments, animals and supplies into the pressurized capsule.
• Launch into a 252 x 554 km x 65.0 deg orbit was followed by separation from the Soyuz-2-1A rocket's third stage.
• The Bion M1 capsule was injected into orbit about nine minutes after liftoff. The capsule carried six piggyback satellites and they will deploy the secondary payloads over the first two days of the mission.
• The Aist-2 small satellite is attached to the service module's side of Bion-M, while on the front of the sphere is the PSO (Platforma Stredstv Otdeleniya, Separation Mechanism Platform) structure which carries a set of cubesat deployers.
• Bion then manuevered to a 557 x 581 km circular orbit and at about 0825 UTC on Apr 21, 2013 ejected other secondary payloads from its PSO.
• Russia's Bion-M biological satellite landed 82 km N of Orenburg at 0312 UTC on May 19, 2013 after a 29.7 day flight. Unfortunately the crew of gerbils perished during the flight due to equipment failure; all of the geckos and half of the mice are reported to be alive. The spacecraft was launched to a 252 x 554 km initial orbit and used its onboard engine with a burn at 0605 UTC Apr 21 to reach an operational 557 x 581 km x 64.9 deg orbit, where it remained until May 14 at about 0350 UTC when a perigee lowering burn left it in a 471 x 579 km orbit.