Kosmos 690

{{Short description|Soviet biological science spacecraft (Bion 2)}} {{Use British English|date=March 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2014}} {{Infobox spaceflight | name = Kosmos 690 | names_list = Bion 2<br/>Biocosmos 2 | image = Bion spacecraft.jpg | image_caption = | image_size = 300px

| mission_type = Bioscience | operator = Institute of Biomedical Problems | COSPAR_ID = 1974-080A | SATCAT = 7478 <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.n2yo.com/satellite/?s=7478|title=Cosmos 690|publisher=N2yo.com|access-date=2016-06-10}}</ref> | website = | mission_duration = {{time interval|20 Oct 1974 18:00|12 Nov 1974 04:48|show=dhm}}

| spacecraft = | spacecraft_type = Bion | spacecraft_bus = Zenit 12KS | manufacturer = TsSKB Progress | launch_mass = {{cvt|5500|kg}} | dry_mass = | dimensions = | power =

| launch_date = 20 October 1974,<br/>17:59:59 UTC<ref name="jonathan">{{cite web|url=http://www.planet4589.org/space/log/launchlog.txt|title=Launch Log|publisher=Jonathan's Space Report|first=Jonathan|last=McDowell|access-date=16 January 2021}}</ref> | launch_rocket = Soyuz-U | launch_site = Plesetsk 43/4 | launch_contractor = TsSKB

| disposal_type = Recovered | landing_date = 12 November 1974,<br/>04:48:00 UTC | landing_site = Steppes of Kazakhstan, USSR

| orbit_reference = Geocentric<ref name="Trajectory"/> | orbit_regime = Low Earth orbit | orbit_periapsis = {{cvt|223|km}} | orbit_apoapsis = {{cvt|389|km}} | orbit_inclination = 62.80° | orbit_period = 90.40 minutes | apsis = gee

| programme = '''Bion programme''' | previous_mission = Bion 1 | next_mission = Bion 3 | programme2 = '''Kosmos (satellites)''' | previous_mission2 = Kosmos 689 | next_mission2 = Kosmos 691 }}

'''Kosmos 690''' or '''Bion 2'''(in Russian: ''Бион 2'', ''Космос 690''), was a Bion satellite launched by the Soviet Union in late 1974.

== Launch == Kosmos 690 was launched on 22 October 1974, at 17:59:59 UTC from Plesetsk Cosmodrome with a Soyuz-U launch vehicle. It was placed in low Earth orbit, with perigee of {{cvt|223|km}}, apogee of {{cvt|389|km}} and orbital inclination of 62.80°, and orbital period of 98.40 minutes.<ref name="Trajectory">{{cite web |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/displayTrajectory.action?id=1974-080A|title=Trajectory: Bion 2 1974-080A|publisher=NASA|date=14 May 2020|access-date=16 January 2021}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>

== Spacecraft == The spacecraft was based on the Zenit spy satellite with emphasis on studying the problems of radiation effects on human beings.

It carried albino rats for biomedical research. Scientists from Czechoslovakia, Romania and Soviet Union subjected the rats to daily radiation doses from a gamma source by ground command. When they were recovered 21 days later, many rats had developed lung problems and their blood and bone marrow had changed more than those of control specimens. It had an on-orbit dry mass of {{cvt|5500|kg}}.<ref>Mark Wade (2011) [http://astronautix.com/craft/bion.htm Bion] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020820011402/http://astronautix.com/craft/bion.htm|date=2002-08-20}} ''Encyclopedia Astronautica'' Retrieved 2016-06-10</ref><ref name="Display">{{cite web |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1974-080A|title=Display: Bion 2 1974-080A|publisher=NASA|date=14 May 2020|access-date=16 January 2021}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>

An instrument module in the form of 2 connected truncated cones, weighing {{cvt|2400|kg}}, {{cvt|2.43|m}} in diameter and {{cvt|2.25|m}} in length, carries in most of the auxiliary instrumentation in the hermetized part. Outwardly, ball valves with compressed nitrogen are attached to the gas nozzles of the stabilizer system. At the rear, the '''TDU-1''' braking engine is located at a stroke of 15.83 kN and a maximum operating time of 45 seconds. Hypergolic KPL delivers a turbo pump to the combustion chamber. An auxiliary container containing chemical batteries and additional experiments, cylindrical with a diameter of {{cvt|1.90|m}} and a height of {{cvt|0.90|m}} is placed above the return module and dumped approximately a day before the landing.

== Mission == After 21 days, Kosmos 690 returned to Earth and landing in Kazakhstan on 12 November 1974. The return module, weighing {{cvt|3100|kg}} and {{cvt|2.3|m}} in diameter, was covered with an ablative thermal shield 3 to 18 cm thick.<ref name="Display"/>

== See also == {{Portal|Spaceflight}} * 1974 in spaceflight * Kosmos (satellite)

== References == {{Reflist|30em}}

== Bibliography == * Kozlov, D. I. (1996), Mashnostroenie, ed.; ''Konstruirovanie avtomaticheskikh kosmicheskikh apparatov'', Moscow, ISBN * Melnik, T. G. (1997), Nauka, ed.; ''Voenno-Kosmicheskiy Sili'', Moscow. ISBN * "Bion' nuzhen lyudyam", ''Novosti Kosmonavtiki'' (6): 35, 1996

Category:Bion satellites Category:Kosmos satellites Category:Spacecraft launched in 1974 Category:1974 in spaceflight Category:1974 in the Soviet Union Category:Romania–Soviet Union relations Category:Czechoslovakia–Soviet Union relations