Russian Foton-M satellite Bio-Satellite Communications restored

The satellite with geckos, fruit flies, silkworm eggs, mushrooms and seeds of higher plants was launched on July 19 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. 

Experiments on board Russia's Foton-M bio satellite will continue despite the spacecraft's failure to reach the designated orbit, the head of the spacecraft's manufacturer TsSKB-Progress said Monday.

"We are not going to start the spacecraft's thruster, and will work in the low-earth orbit."

"This won't affect the experiments, we are successfully carrying out 18 out of 24 scheduled [experiments]," TsSKB-Progress Director General Alexander Kirilin said.

Communication with the Foton-M satellite was lost on July 19 and restored on July 26. Since Saturday, scientists have been receiving stable telemetric data from the spacecraft.

A source in Roscosmos, Russia's Federal Space Agency, told RIA Novosti a total of 17 communications sessions have been conducted since July 28. The spacecraft operation is under the control of the Mission Control Center.

The agency earlier specified that the design and onboard control systems of the Foton-M enable self-sufficient operation.

The satellite with geckos, fruit flies, silkworm eggs, mushrooms and seeds of higher plants was launched on July 19 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The biological mission of the Foton-M satellite includes eight experiments. The experiments involving five geckos are to monitor their reproductive activity in space.

The mission is to study the effect of weightlessness on plants and insects, and to conduct experiments on the growth of semiconductor crystals.

Russian Soyuz Foton-M Satellite fails to respond to commands

Soyuz engineers at Progress were trying to save a research satellite after it failed to respond to commands, which has left it in an improper orbit, Russian news agencies said.

The Foton-M satellite was launched on July 19 on a two-month mission to study the effect of weightlessness on plants and insects.

The satellite carries containers with living organisms, including five geckos, fruit flies and fungi, which are supposed to be jettisoned after two months in orbit and land in Russia.

There is no update on the status of the living cargo, since the containers are not designed to broadcast any telemetry while in space.

The mishap is the latest in series of setbacks that has plagued Russia's once-famed space programme.

Containers with biological experiment equipment being loaded into the Foton-M satellite. 

Photo by the Institute for Biomedical Problems. 

ESA Astronaut Alexander Gerst greets Soyuz Progress M-24M cargo spacecraft

A still image taken June 13, 2014 from a NASA video shows US astronauts Reid Wiseman (L) and Steve Swanson (R) and German astronaut Alexander Gerst at the International Space Station.

Credit: NASA

A cargo craft successfully docked with the International Space Station, the Russian space agency Roskosmos said Thursday.

Meanwhile controllers encountered problems with a separate research satellite when its engines failed to fire, Russian news agencies reported.

The Russian Progress M-24M cargo craft automatically docked with the International Space Station at 0331 GMT with more than 2.3 tonnes of supplies after having lifted off from the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan six hours previously.

The ISS currently hosts a crew of three Russian cosmonauts, two US astronauts, and one German.

Separately, engineers at Progress were trying to save a research satellite after it failed to respond to commands, which has left it in an improper orbit, Russian news agencies said.

The Foton-M satellite was launched on July 19 on a two-month mission to study the effect of weightlessness on plants and insects.

The satellite carries containers with living organisms, including five geckos, fruit flies and fungi, which are supposed to be jettisoned after two months in orbit and land in Russia.

There is no update on the status of the living cargo, since the containers are not designed to broadcast any telemetry while in space.

The mishap is the latest in series of setbacks that has plagued Russia's once-famed space programme.

Containers with biological experiment equipment being loaded into the Foton-M satellite. 

Photo by the Institute for Biomedical Problems.