Iran to send living creatures into space during Ten-Day Dawn

TEHRAN,Jan.16(MNA) – Iran will send several monkeys into space aboard the Pishgam (Pioneer) space capsule during the Ten-Day Dawn celebrations, Director of Iran Space Agency Hamid Fazeli announced on Tuesday. The Ten-Day Dawn, which will be celebrated from January 31 to February 10 across the country, commemorates the anniversary of the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979. Fazeli said that the space capsule has undergone its final tests and is ready to be launched. He also said that the plan to send living creatures into space is part of the project to send human beings into space, adding that the project will be carried out over the course of five to Eight years. Elsewhere in his remarks, Fazeli said that the domestically manufactured Sharifsat satellite will be put into orbit by the end of the current Iranian calendar year, which ends on March 20. In December 2012, Fazeli had announced that a new domestically manufactured satellite, named the Nahid, would be unveiled on February 2, which is National Space Technology Day. At the time, he also announced that it was more than likely that the Fajr (Dawn) satellite would be sent into space by the end of the current Iranian calendar year. The Fajr is the first Iranian new-generation satellite that will be sent into orbit. It is a reconnaissance satellite powered by solar energy. In February, 2012, Iran successfully launched its third domestically manufactured satellite, named the Navid (Promise), into orbit. On February 8, 2012, Iran received the first image sent by the Navid satellite. The Navid is designed to collect data on weather conditions and monitor for natural disasters. It has advanced control technology, a higher resolution camera, and photocells to generate power. Iran launched its first satellite, called the Omid (Hope), into orbit on February 2, 2009. The Rasad (Observation) satellite was also sent into space On June 17, 2011.