I just saw a movie about a ship on a mission to save the earth by flying straight towards the sun and detonating a big nuclear bomb once there.
To not spoil the movie I'm just going to say that one or more crew members go crazy. Which got me thinking. How exactly do you pick a crew for such a mission? What psychological characteristics do astronauts have to have? The way I see it, a space traveller has to be:
- willing to travel to a cold, lifeless and vast space in a small ship which can malfunction in a variety of ways
- ready to leave family and friends behind
- ready to sacrifice own life to save the mission
- willing to sacrifice someone else's life to save the mission
If someone satisfies those criteria, can he be sane at the same time? Discuss
To not spoil the movie I'm just going to say that one or more crew members go crazy. Which got me thinking. How exactly do you pick a crew for such a mission? What psychological characteristics do astronauts have to have? The way I see it, a space traveller has to be:
- willing to travel to a cold, lifeless and vast space in a small ship which can malfunction in a variety of ways
- ready to leave family and friends behind
- ready to sacrifice own life to save the mission
- willing to sacrifice someone else's life to save the mission
If someone satisfies those criteria, can he be sane at the same time? Discuss

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