A batch of pills will be on its way into space where they will be placed on the outside of the International Space Station (ISS) to test how they withstand the full effects of zero gravity, extreme temperatures, and some of the highest levels of radiation found beyond the Earth’s atmosphere. “One day, pills might have to withstand being taken from Earth to Mars and back again to help keep astronauts healthy, so we need to know how they will be affected by one of the harshest environments known: space,” says Prof. Volker Hessel. He is the research director of the Andy Thomas Centre for Space Resources, and professor in the School of Chemical Engineering and Advanced Materials at the University of Adelaide.