On Thursday, a SpaceX rocket carrying hundreds of young squid and microscopic organisms will launch to the International Space Station. The tiny creatures are on a resupply mission for cargo.

The Dragon cargo capsule is set to launch today from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and there will be no humans on board. It's SpaceX's 22nd commercial space resupply mission.

The animals will take part in tests in other countries, including research into how water bears handle space, the effects of microgravity on symbiotic relationships, and the production of kidney stones, among other things.

Newly born bobtail squid will be used to research symbiotic interactions between beneficial bacteria and their animal hosts, as well as how spaceflight affects these interactions, in order to create preventative measures for the health of future astronauts on long-duration missions.

"Our bacteria help animals, including humans, maintain a healthy digestive and immunological system," explains lead researcher Jamie Foster. "We still don't know how spaceflight affects these beneficial interactions. To explore these crucial challenges in animal health, the UMAMI experiment uses a glow-in-the-dark bobtail squid."

Thousands of tardigrades, often known as water bears, join the glow-in-the-dark squid on their journey. According to scientists, they can withstand more harsh settings than most other living forms, making them ideal creatures for studying biological survival in space.

Researchers hope that using their genome in studies would help them better understand and combat the stress factors that impact humans in space.

"For species that have evolved to the conditions on Earth, such as humans, spaceflight can be a very hard situation," explains principal investigator Thomas Boothby. "One of the things we're really interested in learning about is how tardigrades survive and reproduce in these conditions, and whether we can learn anything from their techniques and adapt them to protect astronauts."

An on-the-spot Butterfly IQ Ultrasound, which could provide critical medical capabilities for future missions, is also part of the resupply flights. New solar panels are also being delivered to the space station in order to boost the amount of energy available for research and operations.

Other forthcoming trials include employing virtual reality to test the effectiveness of the remote operation of robotic arms and space vehicles, how to better safeguard against kidney stones while in space, and how to grow stronger cotton to save water and pesticides. Hundreds of other experiments are currently taking on outside the orbiting laboratory.