Launch scheduled at 13.50 BST on April 8, 2026, for miniature space lab containing microscopic worms, in project led by University of Exeter.
This afternoon, a cargo vehicle launching from Kennedy Space Center in Florida will deliver a crew of microscopic worms to the International Space Station (ISS). The worms will participate in an experiment led by the University of Exeter, and engineered and built by the University of Leicester, funded by the UK Space Agency.
Photo of ISS by NASA / Unsplash
The project aims to study how the worms respond to prolonged time in space, in the hope of revealing insights that will help human astronauts to stay fit and healthy for prolonged periods away from the Earth. Such insights are vital given, for example, plans to build permanent bases on the Moon.
Just this week, the crew of NASA’s Artemis II became the first humans to orbit the Moon in more than 50 years. On Monday, they travelled further from the Earth than any other astronauts ever have – pushing the human frontiers of space.
The self-contained ‘Petri Pod’ miniature laboratory to be carried up into orbit today is housed in a unit measuring approximately 10cm x 10cm x 30cm, weighing on Earth some 3kg. It contains dozens of 1mm-long Caenorhabditis elegans nematode worms – commonly used in scientific research here on Earth.
Once received by the ISS astronauts, the Petri Pod will be attached to the outside of the ISS on an experimental platform, where the worms will be exposed to the microgravity, vacuum and radiation of space for up to 15 weeks.
The pod contains 12 experimental chambers, four of which can be actively imaged using fluorescent and white light imaging. Each chamber is a kind of ‘life support’ environment, maintaining temperature, pressure and a trapped volume of air for the worms to breathe when exposed to the vacuum of space. The specimens receive food and water through an agar carrier.
Researchers based back on Earth will monitor the worms’ health using fluorescent glowing signals and white light optics, captured via photographic stills and time-lapse video. The system will automatically collect data on temperature, pressure and accumulated radiation dose to relay back to Earth.
It’s already known that time in space can damage human health. Microgravity can cause bone and muscle loss, fluid shift and problems with vision. Exposure to radiation in space can lead to genetic damage and increased risk of cancer. The hope is that this new experiment can reveal more about the processes involved, and the precautions we can take to protect the next generation of space travellers.
What’s more, this experiment also aims to demonstrate that complex biology experiments can be conducted in space at miniature scale and relatively low cost.
Baroness Lloyd of Effra, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State with responsibilities for space, says: ‘It might sound surprising, but these tiny worms could play a big role in the future of human spaceflight. This remarkable mission – backed by government funding – shows the ingenuity and ambition of UK space science, using a small experiment to tackle one of the biggest challenges of long‑duration space travel: protecting human health.
‘As we prepare for a new era of exploration, including future missions to the Moon, research like this will help astronauts stay healthy and return home safely. It’s a great example of how we’re driving innovation to grow the economy and keep the UK at the forefront of future technologies.’
Dr Tim Etheridge from the University of Exeter, who is principal investigator and science lead for the experiment, adds: ‘NASA’s Artemis programme marks a new era of human exploration, with astronauts set to live and work on the Moon for extended periods for the first time. To do that safely, we need to understand how the body responds to the extreme conditions of deep space. By studying how these worms survive and adapt in space, we can begin to identify the biological mechanisms that will ultimately help protect astronauts during long-duration missions — and bring us one step closer to humans living on the Moon.’
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