Foton-8 capsule recovery

Recovery of the Foton-8 capsule near the Kazakh city of Kustanay on 24 October 1992. The helicopters in the background are, from left to right, an Mi-6 freighter (to carry Foton), an Mi-8 utility craft (for the technicians) and an Mi-14 amphibian vehicle. Foton's payload included ESA's Biopan experiment carrier, designed and manufactured for ESA by Kayser-Threde to open in orbit to expose experiments to the space environment. Foton-8 carried the Biopan-0 demonstration version. Foton and Bion recoverable satellites have, since 1987, regularly carried ESA payloads into orbit. ESA's Biobox, Biopan and FluidPac flight facilities were specifically designed for Bion/Foton missions. Foton-8 was launched on 8 October 1992 from Russia's northern Plesetsk cosmodrome. [Image Date: 24-10-92] [98.08.004-006]