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However, we do already make this distinction in other areas where people work in austere environments, such as militaries, emergencies services, maritime and fl
by closewith 4y ago
However, we do already make this distinction in other areas where people work in austere environments, such as militaries, emergencies services, maritime and flight crews, resource exploration and exploitation, etc.
- rbanffy 4y agoI bet that if we can name a few situations where a specific physical or psychological trait is advantageous, it'll be exploited. Maybe that's why so many on the autistic spectrum wind up in software engineering. Or why so many psychopaths end up as C-level execs.
- mrtksn 4y agoAFAIK we do. I personally know a morbidly obese neckbeard who works in the military. Totally not a solder material but very good in computer networking, therefore the military accommodates him.
- throwawayben 4y agoand I'm sure there are many of such build working in the space industry.. on the ground, where they can be most useful right now
- mrtksn 4y agoHow do you know that hey are useful only on the ground? It's not like people with disabilities are different species, maybe you want to have a physicist who specialised in something onboard and they had a car crash and lost an arm?
- closewith 4y agoRight, and there's many overweight, unfit drivers in transport corps around the world, but they aren't in the Seal Teams. There are lots of areas where we discriminate based on physical ability, including physical disabilities. While I don't think a physical disability is necessarily a blocker for astronauts, it wouldn't be unprecedented.
- mrtksn 4y agoWhy do you think that ESA wants to send people unfit for a mission? The accommodations for the disabled is usually about enabling them do whatever they are best at. So it works like this: A fitness salon should have elevator for the disabled not because they will hire a disabled yoga instructor but because they can hire an accountant on wheelchairs.