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Review
. 2023 Nov 28;9(1):85.
doi: 10.1038/s41526-023-00333-9.

Medical ethics of long-duration spaceflight

Siddharth Rajput  1   2 , Ivy Mayor  3   4 , Madison Diamond  5 , Mark Rosenberg  6 , Victor Cole  7 , Nikita Bhakare  8 , Omar Aziz  9 , Anderson L Wilder  10
Affiliations
Review

Medical ethics of long-duration spaceflight

Siddharth Rajput et al. NPJ Microgravity. .

Abstract

With the advent of novel and emerging technologies, long duration spaceflight will become more common; along with it, an increase in its inherent health risks. However, health-related ethical issues arising during long-duration spaceflight remain poorly characterized, uncertain and unpredictable. Medical ethics is defined as a set of moral principles, beliefs and values that guides choices about medical care. This set of principles, founded in our sense of right and wrong, helps us make fair and just decisions. The paper conceptually and analytically investigates the ethical issues likely to arise from medical complications during spaceflight, mapping unfilled gaps of the current status quo. Furthermore, this paper explores broad ethical themes of autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence and justice, while also delving deeper into specific scenarios within each theme. The manuscript represents an up-to-date review of the available literature in the field of space medical ethics and recommends guiding ethical principles and a framework for their application to negotiate the resolution of complex ethical scenarios during long-duration spaceflight.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no financial competing interests.

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