Biopan recovery from Foton-11

Removing ESA's Biopan experiment carrier from Foton-11's descent capsule after a successful mission. At top left are the attachment points for Germany's MIRKA 1 m-diameter reentry sphere that was separated shortly before reentry and recovered a few hundred km away from the main capsule. Russia's Foton-11 microgravity mission was launched from Plesetsk on 9 October 1997 carrying ESA's Biobox-3 and external Biopan-2 facilities, plus three autonomous experiments, totalling 12 biology experiments involving scientists from France, Belgium, Spain, Germany, The Netherlands and Russia. Foton also carried payloads from CNES and DARA. The descent capsule landed safely100 km south-east of Kustenai in Kazakhstan on 23 October 1997. [Image Date: 23-10-97] [97.12.010-018]