| Kosmos 782 | |
| Names List: | Bion 3 Biocosmos 3 |
| Mission Type: | Bioscience |
| Operator: | Institute of Biomedical Problems |
| Cospar Id: | 1975-110A |
| Satcat: | 8450 |
| Spacecraft Type: | Bion |
| Spacecraft Bus: | Zenit 12KS |
| Manufacturer: | TsSKB |
| Dry Mass: | [1] |
| Launch Date: | 25 November 1975, 14:00:00 UTC |
| Launch Rocket: | Soyuz-U |
| Launch Site: | Plesetsk 43/3 |
| Launch Contractor: | TsSKB |
| Disposal Type: | Recovered |
| Landing Date: | 15 December 1975, 04:48 UTC [2] |
| Landing Site: | Near Amankaragaj, Kazakhstan, USSR |
| Orbit Reference: | Geocentric[3] |
| Orbit Regime: | Low Earth orbit |
| Orbit Inclination: | 62.8° |
| Orbit Period: | 90.5 minutes |
| Apsis: | gee |
| Programme: | Bion programme |
| Previous Mission: | Bion 2 |
| Next Mission: | Bion 4 |
| Programme2: | Kosmos (satellites) |
| Previous Mission2: | Kosmos 781 |
| Next Mission2: | Kosmos 783 |
Kosmos 782 or Bion 3 (Бион 3, Космос 782) was a Bion satellite. It carried 14 experiments prepared by seven countries in all, with participation from scientists in France, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, United States and the Soviet Union.
Launched from Plesetsk Cosmodrome on 25 November 1975, at 14:00:00 UTC. The biosatellite was recovered near Amankaragaj, in Kazakhstan, Soviet Union, on 15 December 1975 after 19.5 days.
It included a centrifuge with revolving and fixed sections in which identical groups of animals, plants, and cells could be compared. The subject animals included white rats and tortoises. The effects of aging on fruit fly livers and plant tissues with grafted cancerous growths were also studied. More than 20 different species were flown on the mission, including 25 unrestrained male Wistar rats, fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster), carrot tissues, and 1,000 embryos of the fish Fundulus heteroclitus (a small shallow-water minnow). A United States radiation dosimeter experiment was also carried out without using biological materials. This experiment was the only joint U.S./U.S.S.R. study flown on the Kosmos series of biosatellites that was developed by Johnson Space Center (JSC); all others were developed and managed by Ames Research Center (ARC).[4] [5]