At 06:58, Moscow time (03:58, local time), on November 10 Soyuz TMA-13M spacecraft descent module successfully landed in Arkalyk region. The landing took place nominally. Soyuz-13M crew comprises ISS-40/41 mission crew members Maksim Surayev, Roscosmos (crew commander), Reid Wiseman, NASA (flight engineer) and Alexander Gerst, ESA (flight engineer).
Along with the cosmonauts first “space” generation of Drosophila melanogaster flies also returned to the Earth. It was the first generation received after Foton-M #4 flight. The flies were sent to the ISS onboard Progress M-25M cargo vehicle on October 29, 2014. The main purpose of this experiment was to study rucurring zero-g impact on multi-cellular highly organized living organism.
The results of these studies are of great importance for further deep space exploration.
