All Of The Russian Space Sex Geckos Have Died

    They boldly went where no sex geckos had gone before. RIP sex geckos.

    Tom Phillips
    by Tom Phillips

    BuzzFeed Staff, UK

    The Russian geckos that were lost while having sex in space – and then found again – have all been found dead upon their return to Earth, according to the Russian space agency.

    edevansuk/Thinkstock

    The geckos were on board Russia's Foton-M4 capsule, where they were taking part in an experiment to see how their sexual activity was affected by microgravity.

    The fate of the geckos was uncertain when Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, lost contact with Foton-M4 in July. But communications were successfully re-established a few days later.

    The capsule was due to return to Earth today, and earlier Roscosmos announced that it had successfully touched down in the south Russian area of Orenburg.

    However, a joint statement from Roscosmos and the Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medico-Biological Problems now says that all the geckos died on board.

    Roscsomos said that: "It was established that while the Drosophila flies handled spaceflight well, developed and bred successfully, all the geckos, unfortunately, died. The date and circumstances of their deaths will be established by specialists."

    The Moscow Times reports that scientists will have to view 44 days worth of video footage to determine exactly when the geckos died, and if they ever actually had sex.

    Matthew Bodner @mattb0401

    Confirmed with Roscosmos: all of the Russian sex geckos are dead.

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    Matthew Bodner @mattb0401

    Would propose impromptu candlelight vigil 4 #Russian sex #geckos on Red Square, but rly not tryin 2 get arrestd 4 unsanctioned demonstration

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    Farewell, geckos. We barely knew you. :-(

    Anatoly Zak @RussianSpaceWeb

    #Roscosmos: Interior view of the #FotonM4 capsule after landing in Southern Russia today. #Foton #Gecko

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