MOSCOW, April 26 (Xinhua) -- Russia plans to launch a biosatellite to study the effects of deep-space conditions on living organisms in the mid-2030s, a senior scientist said Sunday.
The planned biosatellite "Vozvrat-MKA" will travel beyond Earth's orbit, said Vladimir Sychev, a leading researcher in space biology at the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, cited by RIA Novosti.
He noted that existing data on how living organisms respond to near-lunar conditions remain extremely limited, adding that the mission will study the effects of hypomagnetic environments, galactic radiation and high-energy secondary neutrons.
The satellite, carrying living organisms, is expected to reach an altitude of up to 200,000 km to simulate interplanetary flight conditions and assess galactic cosmic radiation, according to reports. ■