Mice, Newts and Lizards Return from Russian Space Mission: Most Died

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Mice, Newts and Lizards Return from Russian Space Mission: Most Died

There have been several deaths associated with the Russian space mission that blasted mice, newts and lizards into orbit. Russian space officials announced that most that were aboard the Bion-M capsule died. (Photo : Reuters)

There have been several deaths associated with the Russian space mission that blasted several animal astronauts into orbit. Russian space officials announced that a number of the creatures that were aboard the Bion-M capsule did not return alive.

The animals were first launched into space on April 19 aboard a capsule atop a Russian Soyuz 2 rocket. The 30-day mission involved the animals flying 357 miles above the Earth while the scientists on the ground monitored their health. It was the first mission dedicated to launching animals to space in 17 years, and was designed to allow researchers to understand the impact that space could have on astronauts. More specifically, it was made to see how well living creatures adapt to weightlessness.

"We often have very targeted scientific experiments where we have one investigator looking at, say 'cardiovascular system function,'" said Nicole Rayl, project manager for NASA's portion of the mission, in an interview with Fox News. "This is different because we have nine investigators total looking at a whole organism approach to spaceflight. That's a very exciting development for us, that we're able to bring so many investigators to the table to really maximize the scientific return from this mission."

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