Ask an Ethicist

Let’s say you are the head mission planner and coordinator at NASA. You’re well respected and have proven yourself to hold this position. A catastrophic incident has occurred on the ISS. It was split in two by an unseen asteroid. Half of the astronauts are on one side of the ISS and the other half are on the other side. Luckily, none of the astronauts on both sides of the ISS weren’t in the compartment that was hit. They were also somehow able to close themselves off from the hull breach. Unfortunately, this collision also sent one half of the space station on a decayed orbit and will soon enter the atmosphere and crash on earth. The other half was sent flying toward deep space away from earth.

You have now been informed of the situation and have been asked to come up with a plan to try to save the astronauts. NASA only has one rocket available and another won't be finished until it's way too late to save them. The rocket also is “half baked” in its construction, but is considered space worthy for only short range spaceflight. It also only has capabilities to hold half of the total population of the ISS safely. You have the ability to save all the astronauts, but the rocket’s chance of failing increases as you add more passengers to it over the safe limit and the longer its flight has to be.

Some of your coworkers have also reviewed all this and have given their perspectives on it. One coworker says to save the part of the ISS hurtling into deep space because, If they were there they wouldn’t want to pass slowly and utterly alone from the rest of humanity on earth in the cold vastness of space. They also said that the astronauts on part of the ISS crashing to earth would pass in the atmosphere. It would be quicker and closer to earth. Another colleague stated a response to the first coworker’s argument. They say it's almost impossible to save all the astronauts with the equipment they have. They argue to save the part of the ISS heading to crash on earth. Better to not strain the rocket’s systems and not risk the rocket failing in flight by saving those closest to earth to minimize the potential of failure. Who do you save?