Bion-M No.1

Bion-M No.1 was a Russian space mission and spacecraft of the Bion-M programme, a new generation of the Soviet and Russian Bion biological research satellites, designed to carry biological, physiological and biotechnological experiments to low Earth orbit and return them to Earth. It was built by TsSKB Progress of Samara, using a landing unit from the Zenit 2M satellite and an instrument section developed for the Yantar satellite. It launched on 19 April 2013 from Baikonur Cosmodrome and flew a 30 day mission with mice, geckos, Mongolian gerbils, snails and fish, with scientists from several countries contributing experiments. It landed near Orenburg on 19 May 2013, but equipment failures meant that all the gerbils, most of the mice and all of the fish were found dead, and the remaining animals were euthanized for study.