Foton capsule lands in Kazakhstan

PARIS, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- The European Space Agency said the payload capsule from the Foton-M3 spacecraft successfully landed early Wednesday after 12 days in low-Earth orbit.

The capsule from the unmanned Foton spacecraft, which was launched Sept. 14, landed in an uninhabited area about 93 miles south of Kustanay in Kazakhstan, close to the Russian border, the ESA said.

The Foton capsule carried 43 ESA experiments in a range of scientific disciplines, including fluid physics, biology, crystal growth, radiation exposure and exobiology.

The experiments will be returned to the ESA’s research and technology center in the Netherlands and then to various scientific institutions where the data will be analyzed.