The medical center previously conducted a test with bacteria in simulated space conditions, which showed a reduced ability to develop antibiotic resistance, but the latest experiment is the first one to take place at the ISS.

An international crew of four astronauts launched toward the International Space Station from Florida on Friday aboard a SpaceX rocket, embarking on a routine NASA mission that could be the first of many to last a couple months longer than usual.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 will launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday. Liftoff is expected for 12:09 p.m. The four astronauts, NASA’s Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, will fly aboard the “Endeavor,” a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.