October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and I know what you might be thinking. This is a space site. Why are we talking about cancer? Here is the real answer: some of the most important cancer research on the planet happens 250 miles above it, and the people doing that work need more than astronauts. If you have ever wondered about space biology careers, this is a great place to start.
No lab coat in your closet? No problem. You do not need to be a rocket scientist, and you do not need to be a doctor either. About 44% of space industry jobs are non-technical, and the health and research side of space has room for you too.
Why Breast Cancer Awareness Month Belongs on a Space Career Site
Awareness is the first step. Action is the next one. For a lot of people, that action is a donation, a screening, or a call to a friend. For some of you, it could be a career that helps science find better treatments faster.
Space gives researchers something they cannot get on Earth: microgravity. That changes how cells behave, and that is useful when you are trying to understand a disease like cancer.
What Space Biology Careers Actually Look Like
Space biology is the study of how living things respond to spaceflight. That includes plants, microbes, human cells, and people. Some of those researchers work in universities. Some work at NASA or other space agencies. Others work at startups that send experiments to the International Space Station.
The work is a mix of lab science, data, engineering, and planning. Someone has to design the experiment, someone has to build the hardware, someone has to get it on a rocket, and someone has to make sure the results actually reach the people who need them.
How Microgravity Helps Cancer Research
On Earth, cells in a dish tend to flatten out and grow in a thin layer. In microgravity, they can grow in three dimensional clusters, a lot more like they do inside a real body. Researchers call these clusters spheroids, and they make a better test bed for studying how tumors grow and how drugs work.
Published research has also found that microgravity can change how breast cancer cells grow, survive, and move. Scientists are studying those changes to learn how cancer cells multiply and spread, with the goal of finding medicines that work back on Earth.
Real Studies Happening in Orbit
This is not science fiction. The ISS National Lab has supported work on cancer cell behavior, tumor growth, and drug response. One startup, MicroQuin, used the station to grow 3D breast and prostate cancer cell cultures to learn how those cancers develop.
There are also reports that the cancer drug pembrolizumab, sold as Keytruda, benefited from protein crystal growth research done on the space station, which helped lead to a quick subcutaneous injection that the FDA approved. It is a good example of space research paying off for patients at home.
Technical Jobs That Touch This Work
If you like science and building things, these roles are worth a look:
Biomedical engineer. You design tools, devices, and systems that connect biology with technology. Space hardware that keeps cell experiments alive is a perfect example.
Research scientist or lab technician. You run experiments, prepare samples, and record results. A bachelor’s degree can get you started in many lab support roles.
Payload operations specialist. You help plan and run experiments on the station from the ground.
Flight surgeon or space medicine researcher. You focus on astronaut health, including radiation exposure and long term risks. This path usually takes medical or doctoral training, so it is a longer road, but it is a real one.
Jobs With No Lab Coat Required
Remember that 44% number. Every research mission also needs project managers, grant writers, communications people, regulatory specialists, contracts staff, and community outreach teams. Someone has to explain the science to the public and to donors. That might be you.
If you are good with words, organizing teams, or telling a story, those skills are hiring skills in this industry. You can help bring cancer research to space without ever touching a pipette.
What the Pay and Outlook Look Like
Let’s talk real numbers. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that bioengineers and biomedical engineers earned a median of $106,950 per year in May 2024. Employment is projected to grow 5 percent from 2024 to 2034, which is faster than average for all jobs.
Pay changes a lot by role, employer, and location, so treat that number as one useful data point, not a promise. A lab technician, a project coordinator, and a flight surgeon will all see very different paychecks.
Step by Step: How to Get Started Now
You do not have to wait until you finish a degree to start. Here is an easy way to begin:
Step one. Read about the research. Search for ISS National Lab cancer studies and see which projects catch your eye.
Step two. Pick a lane. Do you like lab science, engineering, data, or communication? Your answer tells you what to learn first.
Step three. Build one small skill this month. Take a free biology course, learn basic data analysis, or practice writing a one page summary of a study.
Step four. Talk to people. Follow researchers and space biotech companies, and send a short, friendly note to someone whose work you admire.
Skills Worth Building for Space Biology Careers
A strong biology foundation helps almost everywhere in this field. A classic textbook like Campbell Biology (#ad) walks you through cells, genetics, and how living systems work, and it is a handy reference whether you are a student or a career changer.
Beyond that, data skills matter more every year. Basic coding, comfort with spreadsheets, and the ability to explain a chart in plain English will make you stand out.
Helpful Resources for Aspiring Space Professionals
Here are a few picks that can help you get started on a science and health path:
- The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee (#ad): A Pulitzer Prize winning history of cancer that gives you real context for why this research matters.
- Python Crash Course by Eric Matthes (#ad): A beginner friendly way to learn the coding skills that lab and data teams use every day.
- Arduino Starter Kit (#ad): A hands-on kit for learning sensors and electronics, the same ideas behind experiment hardware.
Your Next Step
This month, take ten minutes to look up one cancer study that has flown to the space station. Write down one question about it and one job that could help answer it. That is how a curious person becomes a space professional, and it is possible for you right now.
Awareness Month matters because it turns caring into doing. If you want to do something big with that, space biology might be your way in.
