Russia regains control of lizard sex satellite

I wonder if they plan on recovering the satellite and the geckos. Cameras are ok, but it would be much more useful to have a live sample of space-born geckos to research. Looking at the pictures of this thing, it looks like it might have non-destructive down-mass capabilities, but then I question whether the eggs will survive landing.

Re: Russia regains control of lizard sex satellite

#7

Post by vezzy-fnord » Mon, Jul 28, 2014, 2:51 PM UTC

For a moment, I thought this was the: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weekly_World_News

Re: Russia regains control of lizard sex satellite

#8

Post by gliese1337 » Mon, Jul 28, 2014, 2:52 PM UTC

jayzalowitz wrote: post #3

I don't even need to read the rest of the story and the article can only get worse if I find out what is actually going on.

They launched a satellite with geckos and insects onboard to observe their mating behavior in zero-g, then lost control of it. Now they've gotten control back. The headline is indeed surprisingly accurate.

Re: Russia regains control of lizard sex satellite

#9

Post by ejr » Mon, Jul 28, 2014, 3:09 PM UTC

Would it be feasible to launch a sealed biome into space and have it function autonomously? A bit like this fellow's terrarium linked here a while ago http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2267504/The-s...

The idea of a mini-Earth orbiting Earth monitored by cameras and fed just enough filtered light fascinates me.

Re: Russia regains control of lizard sex satellite

#10

Post by cheepin » Mon, Jul 28, 2014, 3:16 PM UTC

IgorPartola wrote: post #5

Despite the "linkbait" title, it's not actually linkbait. Please read the short article.

reminded me of an onion title.