Russian spacecraft launched with cosmic cache of critters

Russia launched a space capsule into orbit Friday packed with mice, geckos, gerbils, snails and fish to observe how the animals fare in a one-month, roundtrip voyage into the final frontier. The animals will spend the 30-day mission inside enclosures and cages, and scientists devised feeding procedures to ensure the critters survive the journey. The Bion M1 spacecraft lifted off on a Soyuz rocket at 1000 GMT (6 a.m. EDT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, less than 20 hours after the booster rolled to the launch pad on rails. More

(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 20)