Russian space quails will hatch from orbital eggs on Earth this time

The purpose of this study is to study the embryonic development of Japanese quails with the identification of specific developmental features that are caused by space flight factors, the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences reports in a release.

The experiment was carried out in the Science module for 15 days. Japanese quail eggs were placed in an incubator that created conditions of both artificial gravity and weightlessness.

From 1990 to 1999, eight experiments were conducted on board the Mir station to study the embryonic development of Japanese quails with the hatching of chicks. 

Some "space" embryos had pathologies in the development of individual organs and systems, and the chicks that hatched were unable to adapt to conditions of weightlessness. A new experiment will reveal the cause of deviations in the development of quails in zero gravity conditions.

“The experiment is new. On Earth, of course, everything was worked out, but it’s difficult to foresee the nuances. In general, there are a lot of surprises. And the very implementation of the “Quail” experiment requires precision execution, attention and patience. Quail eggs are much smaller than chicken eggs, the maximum size is about 3 cm. In conditions of weightlessness, they had to be carefully examined, that is, examined for defects in the protective shell - the shell, since any missed crack in it, especially in the case of eggs from the centrifugation group , will lead to rupture of the shell, release of the contents into the equipment volume and its failure. Further, placing the eggs in both sections of the incubator, especially in the centrifuge, required significant skills in precision work under weightless conditions,” said the direct executor of the experiment on the ISS, pilot-cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko. 

The embryological material recorded on board the Russian segment of the ISS at certain stages of development will now be subjected to laboratory analysis upon delivery to Earth. In the future, scientists will compare experimental data and announce the results approximately by the fall of this year.