Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
What happens to life in space—and how do we prepare humans to go further than ever before?
On Saturday 11 April 2026, a pioneering mission from Space Park Leicester successfully launched to the International Space Station—marking a major step forward in understanding how life responds to the space environment.
At the heart of the mission is a Leicester-built miniature laboratory - the Fluorescent Deep Space Petri-Pod - designed to study how organisms respond to microgravity and radiation.
Inside: tiny worms.
The impact: huge.
Featuring:
- John Holt, Scientist and Research Engineer
- Professor Mark Sims, Professor of Astrobiology and Space Instrumentation
What you’ll discover:
- How the “Petri Pod” enables biological experiments in space
- Why studying simple organisms is key to human spaceflight
- What this mission means for future exploration of the Moon and beyond
Launching to the International Space Station in April 2026, this experiment will spend over 15 weeks exposed to the space environment—helping unlock one of the biggest challenges in exploration: keeping humans safe in space.
What happens to life in space—and how do we prepare humans to go further than ever before?
On Saturday 11 April 2026, a pioneering mission from Space Park Leicester successfully launched to the International Space Station—marking a major step forward in understanding how life responds to the space environment.
At the heart of the mission is a Leicester-built miniature laboratory - the Fluorescent Deep Space Petri-Pod - designed to study how organisms respond to microgravity and radiation.
Inside: tiny worms.
The impact: huge.
Featuring:
- John Holt, Scientist and Research Engineer
- Professor Mark Sims, Professor of Astrobiology and Space Instrumentation
What you’ll discover:
- How the “Petri Pod” enables biological experiments in space
- Why studying simple organisms is key to human spaceflight
- What this mission means for future exploration of the Moon and beyond
Launching to the International Space Station in April 2026, this experiment will spend over 15 weeks exposed to the space environment—helping unlock one of the biggest challenges in exploration: keeping humans safe in space.
