Agency Considers Astronaut Health, Ethical Implications

Over the years, NASA has solved lots of engineering puzzles, and developed policies for everything from workweek length to permissable radiation exposure for astronauts. But now, as the US plans for a mission to Mars, the agency is being forced to begin addressing deeper ethical issues for the first time.

For example... how do you appropriately dispose of the body of an astronaut who dies during a three-year mission? How long should vital oxygen be spent on an astronaut not likely to recover? Should NASA use DNA testing to weed out disease risks? The Associated Press reports that these are some of the issues NASA policy-makers are facing.

"As you can imagine, it's a thing that people aren't really comfortable talking about," says Dr. Richard Williams, NASA's chief health and medical officer. "We're trying to develop the ethical framework to equip commanders and mission managers to make some of those difficult decisions should they arrive in the future."

Another issue is just how proactive the agency should be in heading off potential medical issues during a Mars mission. In addition to the aforementioned genetic testing... should astronauts have their appendixes removed, to stave off any chance of inflammation during a long-duration mission?

One former NASA astronaut says it's about time the space agency starts considering some of these implications.

"I don't think they've been great at dealing with this type of thing in the past," says six-time shuttle astronaut Story Musgrave. "But it's very nice that they're considering it now."

But one they refuse to face so far is the issue of the inevitable human behaviors that could arise during long-term missions among healthy young men and women. When questioned by the AP, Williams responded that sex is not a matter of health, but a behavioral issue which will have to be addressed by others at NASA. 

"There is a decision that is going to have to be made about mixed-sex crews, and there is going to be a lot of debate about it," added NASA advisor Paul Root Wolpe, a bioethicist at the University of Pennsylvania.

Fortunately, the agency has some time to think about it... as a manned US mission to Mars likely won't occur before 2035, according to the most optimistic estimates.

FMI: www.nasa.gov