The Role of Pharmacists at Space and Aeronautics Station

With the rapid advancements of technology, there is constant talk about space travel, particularly exploration of planets further than our moon. Elon Musk has been the forefront of human colonization on Mars. His company, SpaceX, is currently working on a spacecraft that will be fast and efficient enough to travel to Mars. It is said that the spacecraft can also be used for travel on Earth, which can allow future individuals to travel anywhere on the planet in under an hour (1). Musk hopes that the first launch will be approximately five years from now (1). If the launch is successful, then four spacecrafts will be going to Mars in 2024, two of which will have crews in them (1). This begs the question: will pharmacists be involved in the colonization of Mars?

Pharmacists at NASA

Pharmacists have been working with National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) since the beginning of the century, so pharmacist involvement in the colonization of Mars is inevitable. Tina Bayuse was the first pharmacist to work for NASA and now she is leading a team of four at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston (2). Bayuse was always interested in space travel as a child, but it was not until attending a presentation about how drugs may not function the same in space as they do on earth, that really sparked her interest in the field and encouraged her to collaborate with NASA (2). She obtained a pharmacy rotation in Houston’s pharmacology lab and worked on drug monographs of the space shuttle medical kits (2). This lead to the creation of the first pharmacist position within NASA. At NASA, pharmacists mainly focus on preparing “convenience” and “contingency” medical kits for astronauts at the International Space Station (2). The main difference between the two kits is that the convenience kit contains medicines that one would usually take on a trip, while the contingency kit is stocked for emergencies and contains items like antibiotics and cardiac life support. Pharmacists decide what goes into the kit and then pack them into the flight kits.

The way that medication in space works may be more than a little different than the way it works on earth. The pharmacists at NASA have to choose medication based on volume and mass, which is sometimes problematic with some formulations including soluble powders or liquids (2). Additionally, pharmacists have to think about how astronauts take their medications in space. For instance, using an injectable in an emergency is out of the question if they’re using a space suit. Lastly, there are a lot of unknowns in space, including how the medication will react to radiation outside Earth’s orbit. This is where the role of the pharmacist will be a crucial portion of space travel.

Future Involvement

With humans traveling to Mars as early as 2024, it is evident that more pharmacists will be needed in the NASA team. Traveling to Mars is far different from traveling to the International Space Station; one trip is leaving Earth almost indefinitely to an unknown land, whilst the other allows humans to come back easily. Preparing medical kits for Mars will have to factor in the long-term potential risks, which may prove to be a lot more difficult than short term risks. Pharmacists will have to think about diseases or disorders that may arise later in life and prepare adequately for those. Additionally, pharmacists have to think about how space travel affects a person and their vulnerability to certain diseases or side effects to medications as well. Pharmacists are presently and will continue to be crucial to space travel, especially when colonization on Mars occurs. Once that happens, there will potentially be a large influx of humans wanting to travel to Mars, not just astronauts. Pharmacists will be there to ensure the safe travel of humans to Mars, and eventually, pharmacists will be out of this world and be on Mars as well.