spacetoday.net: Foton capsule returns to Earth

Posted: Wed, Sep 26, 2007, 8:13 PM ET (0013 GMT)
Foton-M3 illustration (ESA)

A capsule carrying animals and other experiments launched into orbit earlier this month returned to Earth on Wednesday, although the fate of a separate spacecraft deployed earlier in the remained unknown. The Foton-M3 capsule landed 150 kilometers south of the town of Kustanay, in Kazakhstan near the Russian border, at 3:58 am EDT (0758 GMT) Wednesday. The capsule was part of a spacecraft launched on September 14 and carried several dozen experiments, including some small animals. The reentry came a day after the Second Young Engineers' Satellite (YES2), a small spacecraft attached to the main Foton spacecraft, attempted to deploy a small subsatellite dubbed "Fotino" using a tether that would allow the spacecraft to deorbit without using conventional propulsion. However, the tether did not deploy fully and Fotino apparently remains in orbit.