Scientists from NASA and the German Aerospace Center launched several fungal and bacterial organisms to the stratosphere back in 2019 as part of the MARSBOx experiment.

The stratosphere, the second major layer of the Earth's atmosphere located above the ozone layer, has conditions that closely resemble the Red Planet and is perfect place to send samples to in order to figure out if they'd survive on Mars.

MASE-IM-9 bacterial cells inside the MARSBOx (or Microbes in Atmosphere for Radiation, Survival, and Biological Outcomes Experiment) aluminum container.

There were two sample layers inside the container, with the bottom one being shielded from radiation so NASA can separate the effects of radiation from the effects of other environmental conditions.