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TLS-06 · Interactive tool · Tools

Mission Medical Kit Builder

Also: space medical kit planner · levels of care

Distance from Earth Pharmacology Preflight & Training In-flight Suborbital LEO short-duration LEO long-duration Cislunar / Lunar orbit Lunar surface Mars transit & surface Clinician Operator / Spaceflight participant Student

draft AI-assisted Last reviewed: Pending review · Reviewer: Pending review

Bottom line

Medical capability must grow with distance and duration: NASA's historical levels run from first aid (suborbital, Level I) to autonomous advanced care with a physician-level caregiver (planetary missions over 210 days, Level V) [1]. ◆◆◆◇ Moderate · E
Current NASA standards size kits by risk assessment for each vehicle and mission rather than fixed levels [V1 3004] [2]. ◆◆◆◆ High · E
For missions longer than 2 years, many current medicines would pass their labeled shelf life: 54 of 91 space station medicines with data last 36 months or less [4]. ◆◆◆◇ Moderate · E
A scoping aid only: no drug lists, quantities or doses.

Proposed certainty (◆ High → ◇ Very low) and evidence-type tags: F flight · A analog · M model/animal · C computational · E expert/operational/standards. AI-proposed, pending reviewer confirmation. How to read the grades.

Builder · mission medical kit scope

Educational scoping aid · not a kit list or prescribing guide

Destination

Mission length (days)

Program

NASA / agency Commercial (FAA-licensed)

Historical level of care—NASA-STD-3001 Rev A (2014) [1]

Return to Earth—per the level definition

Caregiver—

IFirst aid

II+ Diagnostics, ambulatory care, basic life support

III+ Limited advanced life support, trauma, limited dental

IV+ More advanced care; care may be triaged

V+ Autonomous advanced care, physician-level caregiver

2023 space station medicines that would pass their labeled shelf life—

0of 91 medicines with shelf-life data91

Of the 106 unique drug products on the 2023 formulary (111 line items; full list), 91 had shelf-life data; 54 have an estimated shelf life of 36 months or less and 14 expire in under 24 months [4]. Time between packing and launch shortens this further.

Review these areas for this mission

Since Rev C, NASA no longer assigns a fixed level; each program sizes medical capability by probabilistic risk assessment for its vehicle and mission [V1 3004] [2]. Levels are shown because they are the simplest way to see how a kit scales [3].

How it works

The 2014 version of NASA-STD-3001 (Revision A) matched medical capability to mission type with five levels of care [1]. Today’s Revision C replaced them with risk-based planning: each program chooses kits, tests and training through probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) [V1 3004] [2]. The levels are still the clearest way to see how a kit grows with distance [3].

Mission (Revision A rule)	Level
Suborbital flight	I [1]
Low Earth orbit, under 30 days	II [1]
Outside low Earth orbit, 30 days or less	III [1]
Low Earth orbit over 30 days; lunar or planetary surface 31–210 days	IV [1]
Lunar or planetary missions over 210 days (physician-level caregiver)	V [1]

Shelf life. Of the 106 unique drug products on the 2023 space station formulary (111 line items; full list), 91 had shelf-life data; 54 of these last 36 months or less and 14 expire in under 24 months [4]. The tool flags this for missions over 2 years.

Using the result

Open the linked sections of Mission Medical Kits for drugs, diagnostics, airway and training at that level.
For commercial flights, 14 CFR Part 460 has no on-board kit requirement [6]; FAA recommended practices call for first aid and medical supplies matched to the mission and number of occupants [5].

Limits of this tool

Levels are historical. Real kits come from each program’s risk assessment.
Revision A defines no level for missions beyond low Earth orbit longer than 30 days without a surface stay: its Section 4.1 assigns Level III to missions outside low Earth orbit of 30 days or less, Level IV to surface segments of 31–210 days and to low Earth orbit stays over 30 days, and Level V to lunar or planetary missions over 210 days [1]. The tool says so rather than guessing.
The tool lists areas to review; it does not produce a drug list, quantities or doses.

Evidence profile

Overall certainty: ◆◆◆◇ Moderate (proposed)
Evidence types: E · Expert / operational / standards
Literature through: 2026-10-14
Validation: Formulas checked against the cited sources; tool output not clinically validated
Credit: Educational only; no CME or other credit

Requirements referenced 1

Requirement	Title	Plain-language meaning
[V1 3004]	In-Mission Medical Care	Programs size medical capability, kits and training using probabilistic risk assessment for their vehicle and mission.

IDs as published in NASA-STD-3001 Vol. 1 Rev C (2023-09-15) and NASA-STD-3001 Vol. 2 Rev F (2026-07-14). NASA-STD-3001 binds NASA programs; it is not a regulation for commercial flights. Paraphrased. Standards quick reference.

References 6

NASA. NASA-STD-3001, Volume 1, Revision A (2014-07-30; historical). Section 4.1 Levels of Medical Care. standards.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/standards/NASA/B/Hist… Standard E
NASA OCHMO. NASA-STD-3001, Volume 1: Crew Health, Revision C (2023). [V1 3004], [V1 3017], [V1 3018], [V1 4030]–[V1 4033] and Table 4.8-1. www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/nasa-std-3001-vol-1-… Standard E
Hailey M, Urbina M, Reyes D, Antonsen E. Interpretation of NASA-STD-3001 Levels of Care for Exploration Medical System Development. NASA/TM-2017-219290 (April 2017). ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20170004345/downloads/2017000434… NASA E
Diaz TE, Ives EC, Lazare DI, Buckland DM. Expiration analysis of the International Space Station formulary for exploration mission planning. NPJ Microgravity. 2024;10:76. doi:10.1038/s41526-024-00414-3 PMID:39043673 Peer-reviewed E
FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation. Recommended Practices for Human Space Flight Occupant Safety, Version 1.0 (August 27, 2014). www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/media/… FAA / regulation E
14 CFR Part 460 — Human Space Flight Requirements, §§ 460.5, 460.45, 460.49, 460.51. eCFR, current. www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/chapter-III/subchapter-C/part-… FAA / regulation E

Machine-checked on 2026-10-14: each URL was fetched, each DOI's title and year matched via Crossref, PubMed IDs matched to DOIs, and every number used in a calculation was checked against the source text (abstract, NASA document, regulation or official web page). Human verification against full text is still required before review.

Article info

Authors: Pending (AI-assisted draft)
Reviewer: Pending review
Last reviewed: Pending review
Literature through: 2026-10-14
AI-assisted: Yes (disclosed)
COI: Pending
License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (text); code MIT
Privacy: Runs entirely in your browser; no inputs stored or sent
Use: Educational only · not for clinical decisions · Disclaimer
Cite this version: Pending first edition

Educational use only · not medical advice · not for clinical decisions · Disclaimer · CC BY-SA 4.0