1994
Space milestones
BIOPAN returns to space
BIOPAN-1 flies aboard Foton-9. The platform directly exposes biological samples and materials to vacuum, radiation and the other conditions of the orbital environment. Kayser is responsible for the electronics of the BIOPAN family, which will become a recurring presence on Foton missions in subsequent years.
The USA and Russia move closer in orbit
Space cooperation between the United States and Russia becomes increasingly tangible. A collaborative path gains strength that will continue with the Shuttle-Mir missions and, subsequently, the International Space Station.
A comet strikes Jupiter
Fragments of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 strike Jupiter: for the first time, astronomers directly observe a collision between two bodies in the Solar System.
Missions & Payloads
FOTON 9
Foton-9 is an orbital mission with a recoverable capsule, dedicated to microgravity and biology experiments. It hosts the second flight of the European BIOPAN platform, designed to expose samples and experiments directly to the space environment.
BIOPAN 1
BIOPAN is a reusable platform developed for ESA, designed to expose small biological experiments directly to the space environment. It consists of a circular container mounted on the outer surface of the Foton capsule. Once orbit is reached, a motorised lid opens, exposing the samples to the vacuum of space, unfiltered solar radiation and cosmic rays, under microgravity conditions. Before re-entry, the lid closes again to protect the experiments from high temperatures. The platform is approximately 38 cm in diameter and 23 cm high, and can accommodate up to around 3.5 kg of experiments. The BIOPAN-1 flight hosts experiments in radiobiology, dosimetry, exobiology and prebiotic chemistry.