Biological investigations aboard the biosatellite Cosmos-1129

Experiments on insects, higher plants and lower fungi were carried out aboard the biological satellite Cosmos-1129, in Earth orbit, from 25 September to 14 October 1979. The main objective of these experiments was to gain more profound knowledge of the effect of weightlessness on living organisms and to study the mechanisms by which these various organisms with different life cycles can adjust and develop in weightlessness. Experiments on insects ($\text{Drosophila melanogaster}$) were made with a view towards understanding gravitational preference in flies, the life cycle of which took place on board the biosatellite under conditions of artificial gravity. Experiments on higher plants ($\text{Zea mays, Arabidopsis taliana, Lycopersicum esculentum}$) and lower fungi ($\text{Physarum polycephalum}$) were performed.     

Biological investigations aboard biosatellite Cosmos-782

The Cosmos-782 flight from 25 November to 15 December 1975, carried biological experiments designed to study the effects of weightlessness on insects and fish and on gravitropism and growth in several seed varieties. Investigations carried out on Drosophila melanogaster measured the frequency of recessive lethal mutations and the change in genetic distances in the sex chromosome. The study of Fundulus heteroclitus eggs and fry compared the effects of weightlessness and artificial gravity. Plants experiments studied spatial orientation of over and underground organs of Pinus silvestris and Crepis capillaris seeds. Other investigations used Phycomyces blakesleanus to compare spatial orientation and growth and development in weightlessness and artificial gravity.