Five geckos sent into space a few months ago as part of study about how zero gravity affects sexual intercourse have died without accomplishing their mission.

Roscosmos, Russia's space agency, sent the sex geckos into space. It said the sex mission was completed earlier than anticipated, or only after 44 days, but could have been unsuccessful.

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The geckos were expected to remain in space for two months. Scientists expected to gain valuable research data on the effects of weightlessness on reproductive systems.

The Russians discovered that four females and one male died after their craft returned to Earth last Monday. The satellite landed in Orenburg.

The exact time and date along with the cause of the gecko's death will be investigated by scientists and specialists in Moscow.

Russian news agency Interfax reported the geckos died due to hypothermia. An equipment failure might have caused the temperature inside the box encasing the animals to become unstable.

Scientists lost contact with the satellite on July 24. Contact was later re-established and the experiment continued.

The research satellite, Foton-M4, was launched into space on July 19 from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan.

The geckos were among several species aboard the space craft as part of a series of mating experiments by Russia's Institute of Medico-Biological Problems.

On the other hand, fruit flies that were also on board the Foton-M4 survived the space mission and reproduced successfully.

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