What Laws / Ethics Rules Govern Astronaut Behavior In Space?
Nasa said to be investigating first allegation of a crime in space, BBC
“So if a Canadian national were to commit a crime in space, they would be subject to Canadian law, and a Russian citizen to Russian law. Space law also sets out provisions for extradition back on Earth, should a nation decide it wishes to prosecute a citizen of another nation for misconduct in space. As space tourism becomes a reality, so might the need to prosecute space crime, but for now the legal framework remains untested. Nasa officials told the New York Times that they were not aware of any crimes committed on the space station.”
A NASA Astronaut’s Divorce Has Sparked Claims of a Crime in Space: Report, Space.com
“According to Worden, her bank account was accessed without her permission from a NASA-affiliated computer network, prompting her to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. A family member also filed a complaint with NASA’s internal Office of Inspector General.”
Larger image
Keith’s note: Strangely if you search for “Astronaut Code of Professional Responsibility” Google shows you this link http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/AstronautCodeEarthFinal.pdf that redirects to the JSC home page and not to the document. Searching the NASA.gov website does not show any results. Oddly Google has a description of this link that says “It directs us in the performance of our professional duties and expresses the basic tenets of ethical and professional conduct. Adherence to this code calls for a constant commitment to honorable behavior and ensures the continued privilege of participation in our Nation’s space program.” But if you use the Internet archive you can find this file that contains a picture of the code. We’ve also had it online since 2008. Alas, all this powerpoint chart says are happy words you’d expect to see in some sort of recruiting brochure for clean cut wholesome aw shucks Astronauts. Nothing is mentioned about what the rules are about adhering to laws in space and what happens when someone breaks a law while in space.
But you can find 14 CFR § 1214.403 – Code of Conduct for the International Space Station Crew here. The NASA Office of General Counsel Ethics Rules page points you to a 21 December 2000 Federal Register notice. We posted it too. There does not seem to be any mention of which laws apply to an astronaut’s behavior in space in this document. This NASA LEO Economy FAQs page mentions the CFR as well but nowhere is there any mention of what happens if a NASA or commercial astronaut is accused of doing something illegal. FYI this astronaut code of conduct was developed when NASA and the ISS partners discovered that they had no rules to govern Dennis Tito’s behavior on the ISS. Spolier: he did not break anything – including any laws.
BTW the The NASA OGC link to Multilateral Intergovernmental Agreement — United States, Canada, European Space Agency, Japan, Russia (January 1998) is broken (security issue or something) as are the links to all of the bilateral agreements. I found another page that lists the original 1998 bilateral agreements. I searched through them and can’t seem to fin anything about which laws apply to astronauts while aboard the ISS.
I read through all of the United Nations treaties affecting activities in outer space. Unless I missed something or did not understand what I was reading (likely) I do not see anything in these treaties about astronaut behavior being governed by terrestrial law. I am not a lawyer. But you’d think that NASA would make the basic agreement available to the public to read – especially now that there is a story in the news about alleged illegal behavior in space. And if there are specific rules about legal aspects of living and working in space you’d think that NASA would want to find them and add them to whatever rules the place of public-facing websites. Just sayin’
– Shh! The Astronaut Code of Professional Responsibility is Online, (2008), earlier post
– Evolving Traditions Aboard the International Space Station (2003), earlier post
Sounds like the plot for a new astronaut movie – “Bank Robbers from Space!” No bank was safe…
Seriously as more folks fly in space this will be happening more often so maybe its something to start thinking about. Yes, NASA astronauts should, in theory, be different, but more and more we are seeing they are just humans with all the flaws of humans.
It’s already been made. Back in 1985 there was a made for TV movie called “Murder in Space”.
The synopsis from IMDB:
“Set in the “not-so-distant future”, the crew of an international space station are set to return triumphantly to Earth, until someone starts killing the other crew members.”
https://www.imdb.com/title/…
Well, it isn’t as if movies have to be realistic. But I don’t really find that plot-line plausible. As far as I know, there’s never been a documented murder in Antarctica (the ice axing over a chess game was hushed up by the Soviets, to the point we don’t know if it was a murder or an attempted murder…) Yes, I’m sure if you put people in a small metal can for months or years on end, some of them will try to strangle each other. But the record implies it won’t be many of them and the results probably won’t be fatal.
It’s only a stupid made for TV movie. It isn’t any less plausible then robbing a bank from space as the original poster suggested as a possible movie title. Geezzeeee……. Chill out….
People are people. Just because they are an astronaut does not mean typical human behavior won’t happen on the ISS, or elsewhere.
Are there higher professional and personal standards which should be adhered to when employed as a professional astronaut? Absolutely.
“If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime”.
With great power comes great responsibility. Very simple equation. Don’t abuse the trust and responsibility you’ve been given.
This is actually a very minor crime. According to her lawyer, Ms. McClain checked the balance in her ex-wife’s bank account, to make sure there was enough money to take care of a dependent son. From the press descriptions, their finances are still somewhat muddled, so that might even have been legal. At worst, it’s the sort of obnoxious thing some people do in the middle of a messy divorce. That adds up to a minor fine and a judge telling you to stop being a jerk.
The interesting part is that there is some confusion over _which_ judge gets to hear the case. Who has jurisdiction? The whole thing is even more ambiguous since it’s an electronic crime, and I think there is still some uncertainty of where those crimes occur (at the location of the actor, or location of the bank.) This isn’t too surprising. It took decades to work out jurisdictions over crimes in Antarctica, and it still isn’t crystal clear. This sort of thing is normally settled through legal precedent, not statutory or regulatory law. Judges only rule on actual cases, not hypothetical questions. So there are no precedents until someone actually commits a crime.
But this isn’t really a huge problem. In terms of legal loopholes, if someone wants to get away with murder, becoming an astronaut is really doing it the hard way. It’s much easier to get a diplomatic passport.
The bank account access situation would seem to be a non-starter as an example. The alleged victim contacted the FTC which is the correct agency since I assume that she is a U.S. citizen, and presumably it’s a U.S. bank account although I’m not sure if that determines FTC involvement. But either way since it appears to be an FTC issue as far as we know, the location where the perpetrator happened to be at the moment when they went online and accessed the complainant’s bank account would seem to be irrelevant. Whether they were in their home in another state, or in a hotel in another country, or using their smartphone while riding on a train (or airplane in some cases) or onboard ISS, it just doesn’t seem like it would affect jurisdiction in this particular example.
Several years ago I heard an astronaut on board ISS explaining the system for storing foods. They don’t exactly have their names on each meal packet but each astronaut is allocated a certain number of items based on their selections prior to the mission, which they are supposed to keep track of as they use them. While describing this the astronaut made a statement sort of jokingly which implied that some people ate some items beyond their allocation, because certain popular items seemed to mysteriously run short. Not sure if they were just joking or if they were making fun of what one or more colleagues actually did either intentionally or by accident. And certainly not a crime in comparison to axe murder. But where I worked once we had a lunch thief who stole things out of the refrigerator. I didn’t do as badly as some others as I only had a granola bar stolen from my lunch bag one time. They were eventually caught and were fired. I suppose at some point you have to consider that behavior like that even in something that minor is not a good sign.
I remember hearing an astronaut in an interview who was asked about Lisa Nowak who they had been on a Shuttle mission with, of course everyone wanted to know if there were any signs to indicate that she would later threaten someone with bodily harm. The astronaut said the only thing they noticed was that during the mission whereas most astronauts are always willing to lend a quick helping hand when asked by another astronaut, Nowak never did, always saying she was too busy with her own tasks. Inferring that while that might be a valid excuse sometimes, it was unusual that during the entire mission she never had time to help others. A crime? No. A sign? Maybe.
And yet it would be counterproductive to scrutinize or magnify every little fault someone has, thus it is likely that a few more like Nowak will eventually slip through the cracks, and when placed into a future environment where they get into a highly emotional situation and at least think that there is a chance of getting away with something nefarious, will take that chance. If that’s inevitable, hopefully it happens much later than sooner.
That’s something which can go wrong in the other direction. I grew up around people who had wintered over in Antarctica, during and after the IGY. If those stations are any guide, people in space, either on a station, lunar base or on the way to Mars, will do some odd things. But that’s typically just a way of blowing off steam and coping with a stressful environment. So eccentric behavior isn’t a warning sign that someone’s about to go postal.
At the same time, people in those circumstances can get very touchy about seemingly minor things. There really was an axing at a Russian station over a chess game. Someone really did start a hospitalization-level fight because someone else gave away the end to a detective story he was half-way through reading.
My understanding is that it is the jurisdiction of the country that launched her into space.
Also, alledged data access crimes committed over the Internet (by virtue of it involving Interstate data communications which almost EVERY Internet communication does), as well as any involving banking, are under Federal jurisdiction and are investigated and procesecuted by the FBI.
This case will be a fun exercise (for us observers, not the participants) since there is a lot of question to it.
I hope you’re wrong about that. Ms. McClain was launched into space by the Russian Federation. Having a messy divorce between two Americans end up in court in Moscow is a truly head-exploding concept. But even if they decide NASA paid for the seat, and that makes it US jurisdiction, where in the US? The Federal District court, since they handle things involving government agencies? I think the action was actually filed in the jurisdiction where the plaintiff lives, but I have no idea if that’s correct. Or maybe even New Mexico, Maryland or Guam. That’s where the data signals first entered US territory, through the TDRSS ground stations.
Ok. Guam is a silly suggestion. But the lawyers involved will argue about this sort of thing. If there are potentially multiple jurisdictions, they will push for whichever one which benefits their client. Based on everything from local differences in the laws to the likely sympathies of the jurors. That’s one of the things lawyers get paid to do, and why the can afford to live in expensive houses.
Judge Judy?
Oh, and just for reference, this isn’t the first allegation of a crime in space. There is Jack Swigert’s confession that he forgot to pay his taxes in advance and was half way to the Moon on April 15th. And a Russian got into trouble because he was in the military reserves and didn’t show up for a training exercise. Because he was in orbit. Those were pardoned or overrules by people with enough sense to say, “That’s stupid. Stop it.” But I’m also curious about unreported crimes in space. I know for a fact that some arguments have gotten out of hand during polar research projects, and the resulting fist fights didn’t get reported. Given the level of publicity and the impact on future flight opportunities, I would not be at all surprised if there have been some unreported incidents on ISS.
.
And let’s not forget about the disgruntled ISS astronaut who drilled a hole in the Soyuz. 🙂
More likely an error by a Russian individual during assembly of the Soyuz.
I think that’s a very safe assumption. But, since this story is about laws, let’s be legally precise. The headline in the BBC was “Nasa said to be investigating first allegation of a crime in space.” There was a hole-drilling _allegation_. A pretty odd and bogus allegation, but an allegation none the less. And I suppose the equally bogus stories about the Skylab “mutiny” also ought to be on the list.
Man…You all have no idea. They call it astronaut purgatory for a reason….There are a whole lot of Lifetime Movie plots that could be made from Bldgs 4 and 4S….
First assignment for the new Space Force.
Speaking of space laws, In 1980, NASA issued a policy regarding potential ill will and violent behavior on their space vehicles. According to press accounts at the time, “If a barroom brawl breaks out in space,” a commander would be authorized to use “any reasonable and necessary means” to arrest lawbreakers and fine them up to $5,000, sentence then to a year in prison or both. Not sure if this would apply to McClain’s situation.
Apollo 17 Commander Gene Cernan admitted, “I never felt the need for a written regulation or the need for brute force to get things done.” Yeah, but that was before the aperture was widened for who gets to fly on space missions. Wait until all those crazy tourists start causing mischief when they fly to ISS and other private space outposts.
This episode and more are covered in my upcoming book, “SeeYou in Orbit? Our Dream of Spaceflight.” You’ll learn about the history of space tourism and the long and winding road for opportunities for ordinary citizens to fly. Stay tuned.