How do you get rid of the body of a dead astronaut on a three-year mission to Mars and back

在一趟長達三年往返火星的任務中，如果太空人死了，屍體怎麼處理？

When should the plug be pulled on a critically ill astronaut who is using up precious oxygen and endangering the rest of the crew Should NASA employ DNA testing to weed out astronauts who might get a disease on a long flight

當病危的太空人快用完珍貴的氧氣並危及其他機員的生命時，何時應拔管？太空總署應該運用DNA（去氧核醣核酸）檢測，事先排除在長途飛行中可能生病的太空人嗎？

With NASA planning to land on Mars 30 years from now, and with the recent discovery of the most "Earth-like" planet ever seen outside the solar system, the space agency has begun to ponder some of the thorny practical and ethical questions posed by deep space exploration.

太空總署計畫30年後登陸火星，同時隨著最近在太陽系外發現與地球最類似的行星，該署開始思考，深太空探險可能產生的一些棘手的實際和倫理道德問題。

Some of these who-gets-thrown-from-the- lifeboat questions are outlined in a NASA document on crew health obtained by The Associated Press through a Freedom of Information Act request.

這類「誰該從救生船拋棄」的某些問題，在太空總署一份談乘員健康的文件中提綱挈領的列出，並由美聯社透過資訊自由法提出要求後取得。

NASA doctors and scientists, with help from outside bioethicists and medical experts, hope to answer many of these questions over the next several years.

太空總署的醫師和科學家，在外來生物倫理學家和醫藥專家協助下，希望未來數年內能解答其中很多問題。

"As you can imagine, it's a thing that people aren't really comfortable talking about," said 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."

「可以想見，這件事很多人其實很難啟齒，」太空總署首席健康及醫藥官威廉斯醫師說。「我們還在努力發展一套倫理架構，讓指揮官和任務主管未來萬一有需要，可以據此做那些困難的決策。」

The document does spell out some health policies in detail, such as how much radiation astronauts can be exposed to from space travel (No more radiation than the amount that would increase the risk of cancer by 3 percent over the astronaut's career) and the number of hours crew members should work each week (No more than 48 hours).

文件中的確詳細載明某些健康政策，如太空人太空之旅會暴露於多大的輻射線下（太空人一生暴露於輻射的量，不得高於會使致癌率增加3%的劑量），另外，太空人每周工時不得超過48小時。

But on other topics -- such as steps for disposing of the dead and cutting off an astronaut's medical care if he or she cannot survive -- the document merely says these are issues for which NASA needs a policy.

但在其他議題上，例如，萬一太空人無法存活時，處理掉死者及切斷其醫療照護的步驟，文件只說，這些問題太空總署應有一套政策。

For now, astronauts and cosmonauts who become critically sick or injured at the international space station -- something that has never happened -- can leave the orbiting outpost 220 miles above Earth and return home within hours aboard a Russian Soyuz space vehicle.

目前，太空站上的美俄太空人，如果突然生重病或受傷（目前迄未發生這種事），可以離開在地球上方220哩處繞軌道運行的前哨基地，並搭俄羅斯和平號太空船在數小時內就可以回家。

That wouldn't be possible if a life-and-death situation were to arise on a voyage to Mars, where the nearest hospital is millions of miles away.

但在火星之旅上，如果發生攸關生死的情況，由於最近的醫院也遠在數百萬哩之外，根本行不通。

Moreover, Mars-bound astronauts will not always be able to rely on instructions from Mission Control, since it would take nearly a half-hour for a question to be asked and an answer to come back via radio.

尤其，飛往火星的太空人，不能永遠靠任務控制中心的指示，因為光是提個問題再透過無線電回答，就要將近半個小時。

Astronauts going to the moon and Mars for long periods of time must contend with the basic health risks from space travel: radiation, the loss of muscle and bone, and the psychological challenges of isolation.

長時間到月球和火星的太空人，必須全力應付太空之旅的基本健康風險，包括輻射、肌肉和骨質流失，及孤獨所構成的心理挑戰。

NASA will consider whether astronauts must undergo preventive surgery, such as an appendectomy, to head off medical emergencies during a mission, and whether astronauts should be required to sign living wills with end-of-life instructions.

太空總署會考慮太空人是否要進行預防性手術，像割除盲腸，以防止出任務時出現緊急醫療情況，及太空人是否需簽生前遺囑，載明生命結束時對後事的安排。

The space agency also must decide whether to set age restrictions on the crew, and whether astronauts of reproductive age should be required to bank sperm or eggs because of the risk of genetic mutations from radiation exposure during long trips.

太空總署也要決定，是否設定太空人的年紀限制，及育齡太空人是否要捐精卵存在銀行，因為長途旅行暴露於輻射中，基因可能會有突變的風險。

Already, NASA is considering genetic screening in choosing crews on the long-duration missions. That is now prohibited.

太空總署在挑選太空人出長時間任務時，正考慮先進行基因篩選，目前這是禁止的。

Some believe the U.S. space agency has not adequately prepared for the possibility of death during a mission.

有人相信，美國太空總署並未妥為因應出任務可能面臨死亡的問題。

《詞解》
NASA 太空總署
critically ill 病危
bioethicists 生物倫理學家
cosmonauts 太空人
orbiting 繞軌道運行
outpost 前哨基地
Soyuz 和平號
appendectomy 割除盲腸
living wills 生前遺囑
reproductive age 育齡
genetic mutations 基因突變