Foton-M2
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The Foton-M2 in a space mission aboard an unmanned Foton-M spacecraft carrying a mainly European payload by the European Space Agency (ESA). It was put into orbit by a Russian Soyuz-U launcher June 20, 2005 at 14:00 Central European Time from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan by the Russian Space Agency (RKA). The Foton-M2 mission is the second attempt of almost the entire Foton-M1 experiment program which was lost due to launcher failure on 15 October 2002.
The 385 kg of experiments payload (out of the overall payload of 600 kg), consists of 39 experiments in fluid physics, biology, material science, meteoritics, radiation dosimetry and exobiology. Some of the experiments are student designed from the ESA’s student program.
One notable experiment tested the ability of lichen to survive in the harsh conditions of space (albeit in low-Earth orbit). The experiment was successful, as the lichen survived over 14 days of exposure to space.
