Evaluation of Physical and Chemical Changes in Pharmaceuticals Flown on Space Missions

Abstract

The use of pharmaceuticals has been and remains commonplace in human spaceflight missions. In this chapter, the causes of physical and chemical changes of pharmaceuticals in the spaceflight environment are detailed from first principles. Experimentally-realized changes of pharmaceuticals aboard spacecraft such as the space shuttle (STS) and ISS are compared against United States Pharmacopeia standards and provide a means of assessing the viability of pharmaceuticals in long-term human space missions; analysis of results and the widespread use of pharmaceuticals in human missions suggests variability in the quality of pharmaceuticals for space missions ought to be narrowed to provide consistency in the expected lifetime of pharmaceuticals and support expected future increases in mission duration.