Payloads

The Flight Systems Implementation Branch provided video recording and water delivery capabilities for the newt and gecko space biology experiments for the Russian Foton-M3 mission launched onboard the Soyuz-U rocket September 14, 2007 from Kazakhstan.

Scientists from NASA Ames and Montana State University will conduct pre- and post-flight studies on the newt, gecko, snail and bacteria experiments to understand biological responses in spaceflight.

NASA Ames scientists developed eight, one-inch deep aluminum boxes called "attics" to house a battery-powered video camera for inflight recording, a solid-state video recorder, infrared LEDs, and a pump to provide water for newts and geckos.

Foton-M3 will spend 12 days in low-Earth orbit, during which time the onboard experiments will be exposed to microgravity before reentering the atmosphere and landing on the Russian-Kazkh border on September 26, 2007.

http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/display.cfm?News_ID=23095

Foton-M3 rocket rolled out
http://www.roscosmos.ru/NewsDoSele.asp?NEWSID=2429

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/news/releases/2007/07_63AR.html

Below: Launch and recovery of FOTON-M2, June 2005

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