The results are helping scientists gain insights relevant to the search for life on the Red Planet.

The ISS is a hotbed for insightful studies, hosting numerous experiments that significantly improve human understanding of the long-term effects of space flight. Previous work has looked at how quickly medicines degrade in space, how microgravity effects the human immune system, and much more.

The new study centered on two species of fungi known as Cryomyces antarcticus and Cryomyces minteri. Types of cryptoendolithic microorganisms, the fungi were harvested from cracks in rocks in the McMurdo Dry Valleys in the Antarctic Victoria Land – one of the driest and most hostile environments on the planet.

From there, the samples made their way up to the ISS for an 18-month experiment. In individual 1.4 cm (0.55 in) diameter cells, the fungi were placed on a European Space Agency-developed EXPOSE-E experiment platform, which itself was placed outside the Columbus module on the space station.