The Bion-M satellite No. 2 with a crew of 75 mice is sent into polar orbit. Broadcast

The Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle with the Bion-M biological satellite No. 2, carrying 75 mice and about 1.5 thousand fruit flies, will launch from the Baikonur cosmodrome and launch the spacecraft into polar orbit. Izvestia is broadcasting the launch on August 20.

The device will help to assess the safety of such an orbit for manned missions. The launch is scheduled for 20:13 Moscow time, and in about nine minutes the device will be launched into orbit. The biosatellite will spend 30 days there and land on September 19 in the steppes of the Orenburg region.

The aim of the project is to study how living organisms survive flight in a high—latitude orbit, where the level of cosmic radiation is one third higher than in the orbit of the International Space Station (ISS). The research results will form the basis of methods for protecting and supporting manned space flights, including long-range ones.