Mankind has been sending animals into space since long before the first human being reached the milestone. Monkeys, dogs, and chimpanzees were launched into space to assess whether a person could survive the microgravity and radiation exposure, and the experiments have continued. The latest in the series of such experiments is the Bion-M No. 2 experiment, which returned to Earth earlier this month.
The biosatellite, which is being referred to as the "Noah's Ark" mission, began as a collaboration between the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IBMP RAS) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard a Soyuz-2 series rocket, the scientific experiment spent over a month in space. In addition to 75 mice, the biosatellite also carried over 1,500 flies and a wide assortment of microscopic life forms, cell cultures, and plant specimens.
Owing to the variety of the species aboard the biosatellite, it attracted the unofficial "Noah's Ark" moniker after the Biblical tale of a vessel that saved mankind and all animal species after a massive flood. As part of the mission, experts are now studying the impact of higher radiation exposure, which is predicted for "environment of real deep space flight" missions. In addition to the analysis of biological systems, the Bion-M2 project is also focused on testing the efficiency of electronics systems for long-range space flights, and how learnings from space travel can help improve medical science on Earth.