Have you ever thought about the Ethics of Space Travel?

According to New York Times interview with Paul Wolpe, an adviser to the chief medical officer for NASA, there are many issues that are being considered. For instance, space travel involves high exposure to radiation. How much space travel can an astronaut do without running risk for cancer? What happens if a person is seriously injured while on the surface of a planet … or even dead? Should the crew rescue this astronaut if it puts the rest of the crew at risk?

There are many experiments done on astronauts and most of these are acceptable. However, astronauts have been leery about experiments that interfere with getting enough sleep. Sleep is difficult in microgravity and astronauts do have the right to opt out of a study even if it does affect the end results. Religion also plays a role in making ethical decisions. When a Jewish man died on the Columbia disaster there was a question about when to return remains. DNA studies would take weeks and Jewish custom demands immediate burial. As we explore space more fully there will be many ethical questions facing NASA that in the past have only been considered in science fiction books.