Russian spacecraft back on Earth after six-week mission

An unmanned Russian space capsule returned to Earth on Monday after six weeks in orbit for microgravity research, but officials said five geckos flown for space sex experiments perished on the journey. The Foton M4 spacecraft's pressurized return capsule, derived from the Vostok capsule flown by Yuri Gagarin on the first human spaceflight in 1961, re-entered the atmosphere and parachuted to a landing in the Orenburg region of southern Russia. Landing occurred at 0918 GMT (5:18 a.m. EDT) Monday, according to a statement from Roscosmos, the Russian Federal Space Agency. Recovery teams reached the capsule, opened the hatch to access its interior, and began extracting research specimens and other gear. More

(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Sep 2)