Russia's Foton-M Satellite Landing Scheduled for September 1

The landing of Russia's Foton-M biosatellite with geckos, fruit flies, silkworm eggs, mushrooms and seeds of higher plants on board is appointed for the Knowledge Day, September 1, in the Orenburg region, Russia's Federal Space Agency Roscosmos told RIA Novosti.

"The program of scientific experiments has been completed.

The State Commission decided to land Foton-M at 13.18 (9:18 GMT) on September 1 in the Orenburg region," according to the statement.

The biological mission of the Foton-M satellite included eight experiments.

The experiments involving five geckos were to monitor their reproductive activity in space.

The mission was also to study the effect of weightlessness on plants and insects, and to conduct experiments on the growth of semiconductor crystals.