Is the Bioethics of Space Missions Different from Bioethics on Earth?

Abstract

AbstractSpace bioethics is different from bioethics related to biomedical problems considered on Earth. This chapter examines the areas and contexts that account for these differences. One of the differences is a different understanding of human enhancement, primarily in terms of its purpose and justification. The space mission environment is a new and different moral ecology from Earth’s. The space mission environment challenges some of the moral principles and rules, such as the principle of autonomy and the rule of informed consent, but at the same time places stronger demands on the application of other principles, such as the principle of beneficence, among others. Space bioethics resembles military ethics in many respects, but there are also important differences. The most important is that military ethics is focused on decisions concerning life and death. It seems that the differences between space bioethics and bioethics concerning earthly problems are quantitative rather than qualitative, and the main challenge remains the ability to appropriately weigh methods and balance principles and rules.