Along with all the other challenges to solve ahead of any future Mars mission comes another complication: the medication provided for astronauts might have expired before the end of the three-year journey to the red planet and back.
Over half of the medicines stocked on the International Space Station (ISS), including basics like pain relievers, antibiotics, allergy medicines, and sleep aids, would have expired before astronauts could return to Earth, according to a new study.
As a result, astronauts could end up relying on ineffective or even harmful drugs, according to the research published in in npj Microgravity.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean the medicines won't work, but in the same way you shouldn’t take expired medications you have lying around at home, space exploration agencies will need to plan on expired medications being less effective,” said senior study author Daniel Buckland, assistant professor of emergency medicine at Duke University School of Medicine.
The stability of medications in space, as compared to on Earth, remain largely unknown, but features of the space environment, including radiation, could reduce the effectiveness of medications.
All of this means, the researchers said, that expired medications could pose a challenge as space agencies plan for long-duration missions to Mars and beyond.
While NASA does not routinely disclose the types of medications on the ISS, the researchers used a Freedom of Information Act Request to find details of the medications used on the ISS.
Assuming that NASA would use similar medications when stocking up for a Mars mission, the researchers calculated that 54 of the 91 medications used on the ISS had a shelf-life of 36 months or less. With a Mars mission potentially taking as long as 1,000 days to complete, even using the most optimistic estimates, about 60% of these medications would expire before a Mars mission was completed, the researchers said. Using more conservative assumptions, the figure jumps to 98%, and the researchers didn’t factor in any accelerated degradation of the medicines in space.
Increasing the number of medications brought on board could also help compensate for lowered efficacy of expired medication, authors said.
“Those responsible for the health of space flight crews will have to find ways to extend the expiration of medications to complete a Mars mission duration of three years, select medications with longer shelf-lives, or accept the elevated risk associated with administering expired medication,” said lead study author Thomas E. Diaz, a pharmacy resident at The Johns Hopkins Hospital.
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