SpaceX to launch glow-in-the-dark baby squid to the International Space Station

SpaceX is set to launch glow-in-the-dark baby squid and tiny "water bear" organisms to the International Space Station on Thursday.

SpaceX is set to launch glow-in-the-dark baby squid and tiny "water bear" organisms to the International Space Station on Thursday as part of a cargo resupply mission to support NASA's celestial research. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled for 1:29 p.m. ET from Florida's Kennedy Space Center and the launch will be broadcast live on NASA's website. Immature bobtail squid (also known by their scientific name Euprymna scolopes) will be aboard the mission launching Thursday as part of a NASA experiment dubbed "UMAMI," which is short for "Understanding of Microgravity on Animal-Microbe Interactions." The experiment examines the effects of spaceflight on molecular and chemical interactions between beneficial microbes and their animal hosts. "Animals, including humans, rely on our microbes to maintain a healthy digestive and immune system," UMAMI principal investigator Jamie Foster said in a statement. "We do not fully understand how spaceflight alters these beneficial interactions."