Foton-8 capsule recovery

Recovery of the Foton-8 capsule near the Kazakh city of Kustanay on 24 October 1992. Technicians from KB Photon are using hammer and chisel to access the screwheads (covered by plugs of ablative material) holding ESA's Biopan experiment carrier on the capsule. Biopan was 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] [98.08.004-014]