I was listening to WGN this morning. Kathy and Judy, the wacky female duo who command the morning airtime were discussing what protocol NASA should have for astronauts who discover they won’t be making a safe return.
That’s a really tough subject. Suppose you have risked all to be among the select few who have gone into space, and Mission Control tells you that you might not make it back. You have three doors to choose from. The option behind the first door is to ride a flaming shuttle to your death. The second door is that same ride, but miraculously, you make it back safe and sound. The third door holds a pill that allows you to take your own life before you suffer.
What a choice to have to make! How many of us have the fortitude to tough out a death like that? I believe I’d want to hang on to the last moment, trying to do everything I could, to save the mission (and my life!). I don’t believe that in less trying situations I’d opt for suicide, but if NASA had supplied me with a tablet that would make my death quick and painless…..could I hold out, in the face of what was to come?
Another issue they discussed was whether NASA should suggest to the astronauts that they need to have a final communication with their loved ones. If the situation is bleak, and the chance of getting home is slim, should they be up front about it? I followed Apollo 13’s trials when I was younger, and I’ve seen the movie about it dozens of times. There was never any suggestion made public that those men talked with their families. Do you suppose that NASA felt that admitting the gravity of the situation might lessen the efforts of the men to get back? If you loose hope, do you quit trying?
I’d be a wreck having what might be my last conversation with my family, but I’d want it. Think about the men and women on 9-11 who called their loved ones from the Trade Centers or from the planes, to say goodbye. I don’t think that conversation would keep me from making every effort to make it back. It might make me redouble my efforts.
So…….would you take the easy way out, or ride the shuttle down? Would you talk to your spouse or not? Should NASA let the astronauts decide for themselves what the protocol should be? Talk to me.
Arrrgh!!!
It's just my state of mind!
Wooza!!! Tough question but I don’t think I’d take the easy way out as it be my luck, I’d take the pill the NASA would come back and say “ohhh false alarm things will be fine ~ sorry for the scare”!!! Plus I like myself too much to do that *S* ~ As far as wanting to talk to someone Most Definatelly!!! I’d want to talk to hubby, my kids and my parents.
This is a question I have often pondered though not in the same context. I do think when it comes down to the wire one would not take the pill. In a similar vein I think doctors need to be aware that for some people knowing they have only a few weeks to live is more harmful than not knowing. I don’t want to know what is happening when I have no control, like when the doctor explained to me about an operation and what would happen while I was under. That really annoyed me. I just want the goods when I have the ability to change something.
Hmmm… I would delay taking the pill until I felt I really had to, like when I felt the heat of the flames licking at my flesh… Of course, it’d have to kill me instantly at that point, if it were to make any sense. Still, when the heat of the flames take you, most people would take the pill, I think… Remember those people jumping from the Twin Towers? Thats pain that did that. Had to be.
Roberta, I’ve worried about that very thing. My mother’s oncologist, in response to her worries that she was coming to the end of her life, told her she had a good five to seven more years. I thought it very odd that he put a limit on her life like that, but it seemed to give her hope. Personally, I would rather not have had him say that, because in five to seven years, she might just give up. Who knows?? (shrugging)
Mad Bull…..that’s a good point you make, about people jumping from the Towers rather than dying in the fire. I think I’d want that speedy pill, too, but not a moment before.
Hmmm… I’d tough it out, albeit scared all the way to my bones. What an incredible experience it would be and I have to say that though the lives lost in space are a terrible loss, at least they died doing what they loved and lived for. How many of us can say that?
I think that you shouldn’t have that “last conversation” with your family. If you treat each member of your family like you might never see them again and always take the time to tell people how you feel about them, that talk isn’t necessary. I guess everyone, when thinking about it, realizes that we rarely DO take that time but maybe that’s the point. Think about it and take care of it. Make it a priority in your life. Then, the problem is solved for you and if it’s someone ELSE who dies, rather than yourself, you don’t have to have any regrets. You’ll know that they know how you feel.
Hard for me to give an opinion on this right now….a bit too much thought for my brain which has not recovered from vacation mode…but I have to drag my body in this morning.
Yup Buffy, I’m back.
Dr D.,I kept visiting your blog, on the off chance that you might update, and each time….walked away…thinking about you off having a GREAT time….and me here chained to the desk in the office. (sniff, sniff)
It’s nice to have you back! Join us working stiffs!