Engineering:Kosmos 605

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Short description: Soviet spacecraft aimed at biological experiments in space
Kosmos 605 / Bion 1
NamesBion 1
Biocosmos 1
Biokosmos 1
Mission typeBioscience
OperatorInstitute of Biomedical Problems
COSPAR ID1973-083A [1]
SATCAT no.06913
Mission duration21.5 days
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftBion 1
Spacecraft typeBion
ManufacturerTsSKB
Launch mass5,500 kg (12,100 lb)
Landing mass900 kg (2,000 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date31 October 1973, 18:24:59 UTC
RocketSoyuz-U s/n A15000-004
Launch sitePlesetsk, Site 43/3
ContractorTsSKB
End of mission
DisposalRecovered
Landing date22 November 1973, 07:12 UTC
Landing site [ ⚑ ] 53°29′N 65°27′E / 53.483°N 65.45°E / 53.483; 65.45 (Bion 1 spashdown)
Sarykol, Kazakhstan,
Soviet Union
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit[2]
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Perigee altitude221 km (137 mi)
Apogee altitude424 km (263 mi)
Inclination62.80°
Period90.70 minutes
Bion 2 →
 

Kosmos 605 (Russian: Космос 605), or Bion 1, was a Bion satellite. Kosmos 605 was the first of eleven Bion satellites.

Launch

Kosmos 605 was launched by a Soyuz-U rocket flying from Site 43/3 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in the Soviet Union. The satellite was initially launched in a low Earth orbit with a perigee of 221 km (137 mi) and an apogee of 424 km (263 mi) with an orbital inclination of 62.80° ant an orbital period of 90.70 minutes.[2]

Mission

The spacecraft orbited the Earth for 21 days until its biological capsule returned to Earth on 22 November 1973 in a region of northwestern Kazakhstan.[3] It carried several dozen male rats (possibly 25 [4] or 45 [5]), six Russian tortoises (Agrionemys horsfieldii) [1] (each in a separate box), a mushroom bed, flour beetles (Tribolium confusum[5]) in various stages of their life cycle, and living bacterial spores. It provided data on the reaction of mammal, reptile, insect, fungal, and bacterial forms to prolonged weightlessness.[1]

Results

After returning, the animals found several functional changes, such as decreased body temperature, difficulty breathing, muscle atrophy, decreased bone mechanical strength and decreased mass of some internal organs and glands. No pathological changes were found. 3–4 weeks after landing, most of these changes receded and the animals returned to normal. In the experiment, for the first time, a second generation of insects was obtained whose weightlessness was developed. No differences were detected between the second and the first generation. The influence of space conditions on the development of fungi was also found. Growing up in a weightless state, they created a very thin and extremely bent leg and a more massive mycelium than on Earth. Kosmos 605 also tested means of protection against ionizing radiation.[6]

See also

  • 1973 in spaceflight

References

Bibliography

  • Kozlov, D. I. (1996), Mashnostroenie, ed.; Konstruirovanie avtomaticheskikh kosmicheskikh apparatov, Moscow, ISBN
  • Melnik, T. G. (1997), Nauka, ed.; Voenno-Kosmicheskiy Sili, Moscow, ISBN
  • "Bion' nuzhen lyudyam", Novosti Kosmonavtiki, (6): 35, 1996