Bion-10 ready for experiment integration

The Bion-10 spacecraft awaiting the installation of its payload. The payload bay can be accessed via two circular doors, referred to as the big hatch (foreground) and the small hatch (background). The 2.2m diameter reentry capsule is a derivative of the Vostok capsule used by Yuri Gagarin. Russia's Bion-10 (Cosmos 2229) life sciences mission provided the opportunity for significant cooperation between ESA and Moscow's Institute of Biomedical Problems (IBMP). The satellite carried 10 joint ESA/IBMP experiments, with four of them inside ESA's new Biobox incubator. Bion-10 was launched on 29 December 1992 from Plesetsk and recovered on 10 January 1993. [Image Date: 27-12-92] [98.08.002-012]