Bion 9 was a biomedical research mission involving nine countries and ESA

European Space Agency

The European Space Agency , established in 1975, is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 18 member states...

. It was part of the Bion program

Bion (satellite)

The Bion satellites or Bion space program , also named Biocosmos, were a series of Soviet biosatellites. They were part of the Cosmos satellites....

. Eighty experiments were conducted in such categories as motion sickness

Motion sickness

Motion sickness or kinetosis, also known as travel sickness, is a condition in which a disagreement exists between visually perceived movement and the vestibular system's sense of movement...

, reproduction and regeneration, immunology, and readaption to a normal gravity environment. A number of different biological specimens were used, including rodents.

The joint U.S./U.S.S.R. experiments were conducted on 2 rhesus monkeys and 10 male Wistar rats. The biological payload also included cell cultures (Escherichia coli

Escherichia coli

Escherichia coli is a Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium that is commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms . Most E. coli strains are harmless, but some serotypes can cause serious food poisoning in humans, and are occasionally responsible for product recalls...

). The prime occupants were two macaque monkeys. The 2.3m diameter descent sphere was successfully recovered after 14 days, but a failure in the thermal control system resulted in the deaths of some of the specimens.

NSSDC ID: 1989-075A http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=1989-075A

Other Names

• Biocosmos 9
• Cosmos 2044
• 20242

Launch Date/Time: 1989-09-15 at 06:30:00 UTC

On-orbit Dry Mass: 6000 kg