The ocean's tiniest life is heading to space — to help protect it back on Earth

Three scientists — a coral researcher in Thailand, a plankton ecologist in the USA and a geneticist in Zambia — are gathering microscopic life from their home waters and sending it to the International Space Station in 2027. The samples, from coral-friendly bacteria to the tiny plankton that make much of the oxygen we breathe, will spend 50 days coping with weightlessness and radiation. What the team learns could help protect coral reefs as oceans warm, grow food in a changing climate, and keep the air and seas healthy.

SDG 14 · Life below water — Mechanism: institutional program