Bion 10 (Kosmos 2229) launched 1992

 

Bion 10, or Kosmos 2229, a Russian spacecraft as part of a multinational effort, was launched December 29, 1992.  It carried two monkeys, plants, cell cultures, insects, and amphibians. The Rhesus monkeys were trained to activate food and juice dispensers, to operate a foot pedal to study muscles responses, and to make hand and head movements in response to visual stimuli.

The countries involved were Canada, France, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands, China, Russia, Ukraine, US, Uzbekistan, and the European Space Agency.

The spacecraft orbited Earth for almost 12 days, before landing successfully on January 10, 1993.

Happy birthday, Aleksei Yeliseyev, first Lithuanian cosmonaut, 1934

Aleksei Stanislavovich Yeliseyev was born July 13, 1934, in Zhizdra, Russia, to a Lithuanian father and Russian mother.  Although he was born in Russia and uses his mother's name, Yeliseyev, he is considered to be the first cosmonaut of Lithuanian heritage.  He served as flight engineer on three missions: Soyuz 5, Soyuz 8 and Soyuz 10 before retiring from the Soviet space program in 1985.

The first U.S. astronaut of Lithuanian heritage is Karol Joseph Bobko, who has flown three space shuttle flights.