Physical and biological satellites of the series "Foton" and "Bion"

Studies of the effects of space flight conditions on living organisms and physical processes began with the first space missions. Already together with Belka and Strelka, mice, rats, seeds and other biological objects set off. And experiments on space welding were conducted on the "Soyuz-6" in 1969. It is logical that in 1973 the first specialized cosmos-605 biosatellite (Bion-1) flew, and in 1985, the physical satellite Foton-1. We will talk about these series of spacecraft today.

And the Swiss, and the reaper, and the dude igrets

An interesting history of the origin of the design of these spacecraft. The fact is that the OKB-1 Korolev was designed to be extremely successful and long-lived chassis. This chassis was used for manned flights under the names "East" and "Sunrise", for photo-intelligence - "Zenith" and for physical and biological research - "Photon" and "Bion":





On the left - “Vostok”, in the center “Zenith”, camera lenses are closed with red covers, on the right - “Bion”.



All these devices had approximately the same mass - 4.5 - 7 tons, were displayed on launch vehicles of the R-7 family and had a descent vehicle returning from space into which they could put various payloads - an astronaut, a set of cameras or equipment for scientific experiments. The operating time in orbit is about two weeks. Unification of the chassis reached such a level that some Zenit reconnaissance satellites even carried scientific equipment — it was possible to install an additional battery pack or the Nauka module with experiments that did not need to return from orbit (the “washer” in the photo on the right ). And the serial production of reconnaissance satellites that were claimed by the Ministry of Defense (more than five hundred Zenits of various modifications were launched) meant that the basic chassis was fully developed and there were no problems with ordering and manufacturing the vehicles. “Zeniths” of various modifications flew until the mid-90s, when they were finally completely squeezed out by reconnaissance satellites on newer chassis. The disappearance of the basic version of the chassis led to the fact that the "Bions" and "Photons" began to change. Both series received the index "-M", acquired the aggregate compartment of a different form and solar batteries instead of chemical current sources. Thanks to these changes, the period of active existence in orbit has increased to a month or two.

')

"Bion"

Formally, the first "Bion" flew in 1973. However, if desired, the launch in 1966 of the Cosmos-110 , made on the basis of the Voskhod, on which the dogs Veterok and Ember flew for twenty-two days, can be attributed to this program. The satellites of the Bion series made a total of 12 flights. 11 of them were made from 1973 to 1996 on the first versions of the device, and in 2013, the new Bion-M flew. A lot of scientific experiments were conducted on Bionah. For example, on the Bion-4, ten rats flew in zero gravity, and twenty were continuously in centrifuges, creating artificial gravity. From the sixth to the eleventh, monkeys flew at the Bionah:





"Bion-9", 1989, a macaque named Bully.



Each unit carried many different experiments. In addition to rats and monkeys, plants and their seeds, bacterial, cell and tissue cultures, fish, and amphibians were launched into orbit.

"Bion-M number 1"

Within the framework of various experiments, the Mongolian gerbils, mice, fish, snakes, snails, plants and bacteria were launched on Bione-M, the total number of experiments reached three dozen.

The project "Biosputnik" has its own channel on YouTube, I highly recommend watching the press conference on the results of the flight. Showing unique footage of work with the satellite and biomaterials and talked about the flight:



You can also see a page with a description of the device on the Roscosmos website .

"Photon"

The first satellite "Photon" flew in 1985. The apparatus of the first series was twelve, the last of them flew in 1999. The second series of devices with an index of "-M" is already four. "Photon-M1" in 2002 was not lucky - because of the launch vehicle accident, it was not put into orbit. But subsequent vehicles flew, in general, successfully. Each "Photon" carried several dozen experiments - materials were melted and crystals were grown, protein molecules were formed, space heaters and other experimental production units worked. A rarity "Bionov-M" led to the fact that the "Photon-M" began to put biological experiments.

"Foton-M4"

The fourth satellite of the Foton-M series bore many experiments:

• Polyson-2 automatic electrovacuum furnace with twelve capsules for various materials that heat up and crystallize in weightlessness.
• CALIBR - the study of the effect of gravity on the melting / crystallization phase transitions of gallium alloys.
• VIBROCON-FM - the study of the influence of vibrations on heat transfer in liquids.
• PROTEIN - growing extra-large protein crystals.
• BIOCULTIVATOR - decomposition of polyethylene by bacteria in space flight conditions.
• MFC - the use of bacteria to produce electricity.
• GK-04 - the study of sexual behavior, copulation and reproduction of geckos in zero gravity.

And this is only a small part of the experiments. Full list on Roscosmos website .



Material about growing crystals, experiment "Meteorit" and geckos:





Material after landing:

About failures and losses

It is necessary to understand that when there are three dozen experiments on the device, some of them are doomed to failure due to equipment malfunction. The situation, it seems to me, is worsening for the following reasons:

• Experiments of this type are located, as it were, in the “second echelon” of astronautics, where there are no such procedures for ensuring reliability and safety as when sending a person into space.
• Scientific teams make unique experiments, the reliability of which cannot be increased by the development of serial tasks.
• Working with living organisms is more difficult than working with non-living equipment. You can reflash the malfunctioning computer of the probe or the rover, but the first failure will kill animals that you cannot reload later.
• Even without any disruption, some animals will die from stress, intragroup conflicts and other causes.
• The media can not talk about thirty experiments in a row. Therefore, the most attractive (bright, beautiful, interesting) experiment is chosen, which becomes the only “star” of the device, and its failure is perceived as a failure of the entire mission. But the humanly understandable frustration of people who have spent years of life on a failed experiment goes to the masses and, again, is perceived as a complete failure of the mission.

No need to think that such failures are unique to one country. For example, in the USA in 1966-1969 three biosatellites of the Biosatellite series were launched . The first satellite did not return from orbit due to a brake engine failure. The second satellite flew off successfully, but the program of research of the third satellite, calculated for thirty days, had to be stopped on the ninth day. And this is the year the man landed on the moon! The program was eventually closed, including because it became a target for bullying in the media. No matter how sad the death of gerbils and the refusal of the German aquarium with fish and snails on the Bion, the death of the geckos on the Foton, no global “all-prop” conclusions follow from them.

As for problems with communication and control at the beginning of the Photon flight, the fact that the satellite remained in an intermediate elliptical orbit instead of a circular one with an altitude of 500 km slightly worsened the quality of microgravity, but should not have led to any catastrophic results. Despite the problems, the satellite successfully braked for de-orbit, and the descent module landed in a given area.

But what about the ISS?

An inquisitive reader who knows about physical and biological experiments on the ISS may ask - why not conduct these experiments on the ISS, where there is weightlessness, and the crew, if anything, can try to fix the failures of the experimental facilities? Indeed, a lot of physical and biological experiments were conducted at orbital stations. But not for all experiments this environment is good:

1. The ISS is not as “pure” weightlessness as on a specialized satellite. Solar panels are rotated on the ISS, fans and various equipment vibrate, the station regularly raises the orbit, joins and undocks with the ships and can suddenly perform a space debris maneuver. All these conditions make the atmosphere of the station poorly suited for experiments requiring exposure in microgravity conditions.
2. The ISS has its own microflora and no sterility conditions, if required for a biological experiment.
3. The ISS is drawn in a circular orbit approximately 450 km high. If the experiment requires a higher or lower or elliptical orbit, then the ISS is not suitable for it.

For these reasons, physical and biological satellites, even in small numbers, will continue to exist.

Perspectives

The flight "Bion-M number 2" is expected in 2019. This will be an ordinary satellite of the series, which, however, they are going to launch into a circular orbit with a height of 1000 km, more than two times higher than the ISS.

But the usual "Photons" will no longer be. He is being replaced by the apparatus “Return-ICA”, which is planned to put into orbit with an apogee of 200,000 km. The flight plan is still unknown, depending on the value of perigee, the device will either be able to regularly fly through the Earth’s radiation belts, studying their influence, or, if the perigee is above 20,000 km, be in conditions similar to interplanetary flight.





And this is the stand-alone module OKA-T-ISS, which can become an alternative and development of the Bion and Photon satellites. The autonomous module will work as part of the ISS - regularly load autonomous experiments, retreat to “pure” weightlessness, conduct experiments and reconnect with the ISS to extract the results and load new experiments. According to current plans, the module will be launched in the late 10s.

List of used sources

In addition to Wikipedia used:

• The site of the project "Biosputnik" .
• Materials on biosatellites: one , two , three .
• According to "Photons": one , two , three .
• For KDPV thanks to the channel "Star" .