Quitting the job while on a space mission?

[muldoonthief]

@Bijou_Drains

What would happen if someone is on space mission for months and decides to quit their job? Would they have to be sent back right away? Or just wait for the next departure? They must have rules for this situation. You cannot force someone to work a job so they could just stay up and do nothing.

On the show deadliest catch a guy quit and the boat had to go back to port to drop him off. But that is much easier than being in space.

Regarding Deadliest Catch - I don’t know if it’s happened multiple times, but the time I saw a guy go completely nuts, the captain specifically said the contract states they don’t have to bring him back until the boat is ready to go back, but the guy had threatened to put on a survival suit and swim back to shore, so they decided for his own safety to bring him back.

There have been other times when someone just quit, but didn’t go crazy, and the captain just told him to stay in his bunk and not bother anyone else until they had full tanks and were ready to go to port.

@Machine_Elf

If Crimson Tide and The Hunt for Red October are to be believed, firearms are standard equipment on submarines.

In a previous thread, robby confirmed it:

@robby

Yes, subs carry firearms on board. They are usually locked up in the small arms locker. Subs typically carry .45 caliber pistols, 12-gauge shotguns, and M-16s.

We are in the military, after all, and you never know when some firearms might come in handy, you know?

Seriously, the main purpose for the firearms is for the topside watch when tied up at the pier. We want to prevent unauthorized personnel from coming on board, and would like something to enforce this other than just asking them pretty-please.

[Bijou_Drains]

@muldoonthief

Regarding Deadliest Catch - I don’t know if it’s happened multiple times, but the time I saw a guy go completely nuts, the captain specifically said the contract states they don’t have to bring him back until the boat is ready to go back, but the guy had threatened to put on a survival suit and swim back to shore, so they decided for his own safety to bring him back.

yes that was the guy I saw quit. They also had the police meet the boat at the dock to make sure the guy got off OK without any issues.

[KMS94]

@MandaJo

Some of them, at least, are military, and pretty sure there are rules about quitting the military.

When I was deployed to Iraq, I “quit” several times a month, usually when tasked with an unpleasant mission. I would often emphasize my quitting by taking my hat off, and throwing it to the ground in mock disgust. My platoon sergeant would regretfully decline to accept my resignation, but typically said he’d consider it tomorrow.

Somewhat related to the fishing boat story mentioned above, a local boat captain was recently charged with seaman’s manslaughter for not rescuing a crewman. He was delivering a boat to the Virgin Islands when one of the crew hired for the trip, previously unknown to the captain, had some sort of episode 300 miles from shore. He tried to take control of the boat, and attacked the captain. After attacking the captain, he jumped overboard. They didn’t make an attempt to rescue him. The captain was acquitted.

Camden charter boat captain acquitted in unusual manslaughter case

[Bijou_Drains]

I know a guy who quit the Air Force officer school which sounds surprising. But they would rather have people who really want to be there than somebody who is very unhappy. It’s probably harder to get out if you are in basic training for enlisted .

[Kearsen1]

@Broomstick

That is one of the reasons for extended missions in Earth orbit - find out what happens to people long term in such an environment, but close enough that it’s possible to bring them back if things start to go south.
I could even see a scenario where a crew member becomes so dangerous that the others kill the person as a survival measure for the rest of them. Clearly, a situation we want to avoid but I’m sure NASA has considered the possibility.

Didn’t U-boat commanders have a pistol for just such a circumstance? I thought I heard something once to that effect.

Which sounds fine but it is probably much akin to going out on a fishing boat (even long term) with land in site, or sailing open water where for months, you see no land.

I could totally do the first, but the latter is a much harder sell.

[Velocity]

Nobody would get thrown out the ISS into space or anything like that. My WAG is that they would be fed, housed, “relieved of job duty,” as usual and then when they return to Earth they are promptly fired and never get to sniff a space-related job again.

[Bijou_Drains]

but you can’t fire them if they already quit

I agree it would be a very bad move for your career even outside of space related jobs.

[Machine_Elf]

@DPRK

“Soyuz” capsules used to carry those awesome triple-barreled rifle/shotgun/machetes as required standard equipment but obviously not for use against crew members! (The idea was that those old 9mm Makarov pistols wouldn’t necessarily work so well against bears.) I couldn’t say what, if anything, is on board (some) current missions.

I get it, what with cosmonauts landing in wild Siberia. But there’s something very “Far Side” about spacefarers having to concern themselves with the threat of bears.