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Bioethics in Space Exploration

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Handbook of Bioastronautics

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Abstract

The term “research” refers to a class of activities designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge. The fact that NASA was conducting and planning future human research required that it develop an institutional review board (IRB). Formal bioethics policies and procedures started with the establishment of the Johnson Space Center (JSC) IRB, which was known as the Human Research Policy and Procedures Committee (HRPPC). It was developed in response to NASA NMI 7100.8 in 1972 (DHHS 1974). The Belmont Report (1979) required updates to NMI 7100.8. This chapter traces the evolution of NASA’s human research guidelines through the International Space Station. Finally, some considerations of exploration class missions are discussed.

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References

  • Department of Health and Human Services (1974) Code of federal regulations—title 45 (part 46) protection of human subjects

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  • Institute of Medicine (2001) Safe passage, astronaut care for exploration missions. National Academy Press, Washington, DC

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  • JSC Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects Guidelines for Investigators Proposing Human Research for Space Flight and Related Investigations (2004) JSC 20483, Revision C

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  • Levine RJ (1986) Ethics and regulation of clinical research. Yale University Press, New Haven/London

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  • National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine (2015) On being a scientist. A guide to responsible conduct in research. National Academy Press, Washington, DC

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. NASA Johnson Space Center, Round Rock, TX, USA

    Charles Sawin

Authors
  1. Charles Sawin
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Laurence R. Young

  2. Center for Space Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA

    Jeffrey P. Sutton

Section Editor information

  1. The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX, USA

    Michael W. Bungo

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© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

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Sawin, C. (2020). Bioethics in Space Exploration. In: Young, L.R., Sutton, J.P. (eds) Handbook of Bioastronautics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10152-1_136-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10152-1_136-3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-10152-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-10152-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference EngineeringReference Module Computer Science and Engineering

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Bioethics in Space Exploration
    Published:
    04 December 2020

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10152-1_136-3

  2. Bioethics in Space Exploration
    Published:
    06 April 2018

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10152-1_136-2

  3. Original

    Bioethics in Space Exploration
    Published:
    01 August 2017

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10152-1_136-1

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