Posted: Tue, May 21, 2013, 8:18 AM ET (1218 GMT)
A capsule carrying plants and animals returned to Earth after a month-long flight, only to find that many of the animals on board had perished. The Bion-M1 spacecraft landed Sunday in Russia's Orenburg region, 1,200 kilometers southeast of Moscow, 30 days after launch on a Soyuz rocket from Baikonur. Bion launched with a complement of mice, gerbils, and other animals and plants to investigate their reaction to the space environment. However, an equipment failure on the spacecraft meant that a number of mice, gerbils, and newts died during the flight. Other animals, including a number of lizards, survived the flight and the return to Earth.

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