Biosatellite 1, also known as Biosat 1 and Biosatellite A, was the first mission in NASA's

Biosatellite program NASA, NASA's Biosatellite program was a series of three Uncrewed spacecraft, uncrewed artificial satellites to assess the effects of spaceflight, especially radiation and weightlessness, on living organisms. Each was designed to reenter Earth's at ...

. It was launched on December 14, 1966, by a Delta G rocket from Launch Complex 17A of the

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) is an installation of the United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida. Headquartered at the nearby Patrick Space Force Base, the sta ...

into an orbit with a perigee, apogee, and 33.5 degrees of orbital inclination, with a period of 90.5 minutes. Biosatellite 1 was carrying several specimens for studying the effects of the space environment on biological processes. Prior to

reentry Atmospheric entry (sometimes listed as Vimpact or Ventry) is the movement of an object from outer space into and through the gases of an atmosphere of a planet, dwarf planet, or natural satellite. Atmospheric entry may be ''uncontrolled entr ...

, the entry capsule separated from the satellite bus properly, but the deorbit motor failed to ignite, leaving it stranded in a slowly decaying orbit. It re-entered and disintegrated on February 15, 1967.

Experiments

* Effects of Weightlessness on Wheat Seedling

Morphogenesis Morphogenesis (from the Greek ''morphê'' shape and ''genesis'' creation, literally "the generation of form") is the biological process that causes a cell, tissue or organism to develop its shape. It is one of three fundamental aspects of deve ...

and

Histochemistry Immunohistochemistry is a form of immunostaining. It involves the process of selectively identifying antigens in cells and tissue, by exploiting the principle of antibodies binding specifically to antigens in biological tissues. Albert Hewett ...

* Growth

Physiology Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...

of the Wheat Seedling in Space * Biochemical Changes in Developing Wheat Seedling in Weightless State * Effects of Weightlessness of the Dividing Egg of Rana Pipiens * Mutational Response of Habrobracon * Liminal Angle of a Plagiogeotropic Organ under Weightlessness * Effects of Radiation and Weightlessness on Tribolium Pupae * Effects of Weightlessness on

Radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'' consisting of photons, such as radio waves, microwaves, infr ...

Induced Somatic Damage in

Drosophila ''Drosophila'' (), from Ancient Greek δρόσος (''drósos''), meaning "dew", and φίλος (''phílos''), meaning "loving", is a genus of fly, belonging to the family Drosophilidae, whose members are often called "small fruit flies" or p ...

* Effects of Space Environ on Radiation- Induced Damage to Repro Cells of Pupae * Genetic and

Cytologic Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living and ...

Studies of Tradescantia Irradiated During Flight * Combined Effects of Weightlessness and Radiation on Inact.+Mutation-Induct * Spc Flt Eff-Gamma Rad Interaction on Growth+Induction of Lysogenic Bacteria * Effects of Weightlessness on

Amoeba An amoeba (; less commonly spelled ameba or amœba; : amoebas (less commonly, amebas) or amoebae (amebae) ), often called an amoeboid, is a type of Cell (biology), cell or unicellular organism with the ability to alter its shape, primarily by ...

, Pelomyxa Carolinensis

References

1966 in spaceflight Biosatellites Spacecraft launched in 1966 Spacecraft which reentered in 1967 Spacecraft launched by Delta rockets Biosatellite program {{satellite-stub