Pregnant crickets came back from space safely

Italian astronaut Roberto Vittori carried out a series of curious experiments.

According to Roberto Vittori, an Italian astronaut who took seven pregnant crickets to his week-long trip to the International Space Station, the insects had a hard time out there. The crickets were brought to the ISS on April 15.

"I don't know the results of the experiment, but must say that they had a hard time of it," – said signore Vittori to RIA Novosti. During flight, females were allowed to deposit eggs in the egg collectors during two periods of the mission.

During his orbital mission Roberto Vittori carried out 23 experiments of the European Eneide Project. Within the framework of the VINO (Vine In Near Orbit) experiment Vittori has checked the ability of grafts with vine scions, grown on vineyards in Italian Toscana, to survive and develop in orbital conditions.

Vittori has also studied the impact of zero gravity and hostile orbital factors on the cell culture of the thyroid gland in rats. The Italian astronaut has also assessed the possibility of growing foods in zero gravity: mainly vegetable sprouts, particularly beans (Experiment named "SEEDLINGS").

The most interesting and even pleasant experiment organized by the Italian astronaut implied tasting the traditional food from the Lazio region in order to demonstrate that it's "tasty and nutritious and don't lose its quality in space flight conditions".